A Certain World of Darkness
by SilverFang88
Summary: Kamijou Touma has never been the luckiest person in the world; but due to that lack of good fortune he isn't ignorant to those in need. But a simple impulsive act results in him meeting someone who thrives in a darker world hidden beneath the surface. Now at the crossroads: will he trek into the unknown to save that girl or be devoured by the beasts that lurk within the darkness?
1. A Simple Impulsive Action

Greetings to all!

Recently, I've been having this unfathomable urge to write an Index fic and, after spending several hours bored out of my mind, I went ahead and wrote this. Now, to explain a few things, I'll say that this story takes place before the events of both Railgun and Index, meaning Touma has all his memories, no knowledge of Magic-side, no affiliation with anyone on either side of the spectrum. To put it simply: it's when he was most 'ordinary' and not swallowed up by the darkness that made up the rest of the world. And before the question is asked, yes I have read the light novels; I've read them all the way up to the latest Volume 6 of New Testament. While this is still a new anime criteria for me, (Naruto-fanfics are my forte) so I'm hoping this turns out well.

But, enough of my ramblings, please enjoy and know that I own nothing.

* * *

It was supposed to be an uneventful evening in District 7, an evening with no problems, troublesome situations, or hassles that required addressing. An evening where all was right in the world and one could simply walk down a couple blocks and be left to their own musings in relative peace. That was what it was how it was supposed to be, how it very well should have been, but that could be further from the truth. Academy City, a city where a majority of the population was composed of students and possessed technology twenty or thirty years ahead of the rest of the world, was still a city that contained violence within its walls. With a population or at least 2.8 million people which inhabit this place, it goes without saying that trouble often times occurs.

You see the Power Development Curriculum is just one, though the arguably the most important, factor of this City that makes this place special. Through the creation of that program, the means to unlock the full potential of humanity was achieved in the form of Espers; people who possess supernatural powers that they can use at their leisure. Of course, many of who possess those supernatural abilities tended to squander them and miss-use them, which gave birth to the peace keepers of the city known as Anti-Skill and Judgment.

Judgment was mainly composed of other Espers who were called in for cases that involve the supernatural; whilst Anti-Skill was the department that handled petty crimes and, to an extent, military situations. The system wasn't perfect, not as perfect as people would claim it was, but it ensured the safety of those who resided in this city.

But, as it seems, tonight was one of those nights where the keepers of the peace had decided to take a coffee break. For, at this very moment, a woman with soft-tea colored hair stood in the center of several brutish teenage boys who were all leering at her; their intent being pretty evident. Bystanders merely continued to walk past the spectacle, pointingly ignoring the group of thugs ganging up on a young woman who was leaning against the wall of a nearby building.

Normally, when a young woman was in a situation such as this, they would be in a state of fear or concerned regarding their well-being. Some would be a trembling wreck, others would make a strong face in a vain attempt to appear stronger they in fact were; in the worst case scenario she would have been screaming for help yet deep down know that nobody would come. None of these traits were present in the current moment however in concerns to this girl. Her purse was still hanging off her left shoulder, her body was relaxed, and her expression displayed the trait of extreme boredom.

By appearance alone, the girl was of considerable beauty and grace that would be befitting to someone of royalty or vast wealth. It wasn't so much her appearance as it was the aura which she produced with even the most subtle of movements. Her long soft-tea colored hair, lightly shaded brown eyes, and a tall slender figure to complement the rest of her features. To the common-folk, she was a girl most males would kill to gain even a brief moment of her time; a fact that wasn't as far-fetched as some would be lead to believe. Given her attire, it too further proved that she was someone who was of high-class; the fashionable white blouse with short wavy sleeves that stopped at a bit passed her elbows, the light pink skirt that blended well with the shirt, black spandex bottoms that ceased just a few inches above her shins, and even her flat-bottom white shoes looked to like they were brand-named.0

All-in-all, she was a person many would classify as high-class, someone who was bound to possess considerable amount of money, and someone who was an easy target for thugs like the ones currently surrounding her could use to get some easy cash; along with other perks as well so long as they didn't get caught.

But, in spite of being outnumbered and surrounded, the posture, calm-attitude, and dull look in her eyes were a clear indication that she was not afraid in the slightest. If anything, it was a sign to anyone that she was in complete control of her situation and was only tolerating the foolishness of these people for as long as her patience allowed. None of the brutes had directly touched her yet, and the moment they did she would surely make them regret it. For she was Mugino Shizuri, a girl who possessed a supernatural ability that made the majority of city filled with other Esper's pale in comparison to. You see, to establish the strength of an Esper's ability, the city had made a system that could accurately rate the power that ability. This system determined an Esper's ability through Levels, 0 being the absolute lowest and have no powers at all and 5 being the absolute highest.

As it currently stands, there are seven Level 5 Espers in the entire city, and Mugino just happened to be one of them. Her ability allows her to converts electrons into unstable destructive matter that is said to be in a state between particles and waves. What this means is that she could create several beams of pure energy that can pierce through any solid object she desires, melting anything and everything in its path without meeting any resistance as it travels. It was a deadly ability and rightfully deserved its Level 5 status for its destructive force; thus resulting in her ability's name: The Meltdowner.

Now, with this knowledge, one would question why she was even allowing herself to be stuck in a situation such as this? Well, the answer to such a question was simple really; she had been waiting for someone. To be more specific, three someone's who were supposed to meet here near this location at a specific point in time to carry out a specific task. The task was, more or less, the elimination of something that had caused one of the higher-ups in this city to become uneasy. It was just one of the many jobs her underground group was known for handling; along with monitoring certain people from getting too much power and keeping things under control. It wasn't a topic for open decision but the group she was in charge of, known as ITEM, was indeed one of the rather well known groups within the dark underbelly of Academy City. So infamous that, had these fools realized who she was sooner, they would have been the one's trembling with fear and running for their lives.

Sadly, if they had, she would not have been sympathetic enough for them to get away without losing a limb in the process. She'd let them live, if only because they were out in the open, but if they had been in a dark alleyway then it would certainly have been death for all of these moronic pigs.

But the thing that annoyed her most was the fact that they persisted in their attempts to make a pass on her. The fact that she wasn't responding and clearly wasn't afraid was sure to have been enough of a sign that they were nothing but an annoyance to her. If anything, their attempts to woo her were slowly but surely growing more and more irritating and thus putting a strain on her patience.

"Ah, there you are!"

It clearly hadn't been a feminine voice which had broken through the small group of delinquents around her, but it did at least serve to gain her attention. As seconds passed, along with numerous mutters coming from someone shifting his way through the small crowd of thugs, before the originator of the voice had entered her range of visibility. In the looks department, nothing seemed remotely out-of-place for someone in his mid-teens; with the only exception being his spiky black hair and deep blue eyes. While certainly more presentable than the males around her, he wasn't exactly prince charming either; an ideal for someone with ordinary standards.

His physic wasn't as promising either, standing from what she could guess being five-foot five inches tall with a bit of muscle; though not as pronounced. This, again, gave off that same feeling of normality that one would expect to see in a high-school student. Even his attire was ordinary: a button up white shirt, an orange shirt underneath the shirt, slacks, and white sneakers with red patterns along the sides and front of the shoe. Over-all, he looked like a normal, ordinary, high school student that could easily be lost in a crowd of people and become nothing more than a fleeting after-thought.

In her eyes, he wasn't anything spectacular really; a much better sight than the thugs surrounding her without a doubt, but not the best looking guy she had met in her life.

Said young man appeared quite relieved for some reason or another, as if unbothered by the group of thuggish young men surrounding the two of them, while a lighthearted smile became apparent on his features as he casually approached her. She, of course, wasn't a fool and took notice of the fact that his eyes shifted towards the hulking forms surrounding him along with a few beads of sweat most likely caused as a result of his nervousness. Upon taking note of these things, she came to the conclusion that this person didn't know anyone among this group; making him just a normal bystander. While unnecessary and largely unwanted, one of her flawlessly trimmed eyebrows rose in confusion in regards to why someone would foolishly get involved in a situation that he had no business in.

"So this is where you've been all this time. Geeze, going off on your own and leaving me to go searching all over the place for you." The manner in which the teenager spoke was calm, or as calm as possible given the situation. Before she herself realized, the boy's right hand had been clasped around her wrist, applying only the necessary amount of pressure to maintain his grip on her but not enough to create too much discomfort. With this action completed, he quickly turned his advancement away from her and back towards the path he had entered the crowd through and towards the nearest exit-point away from the group, pulling Mugino along as he did so. "Thanks for keeping any eye on her for me; we'll just go ahead and be on our way now."

Realization soon dawned on the Mugino just short of a minute after the two had passed the threshold between the crowd of thugs and the nearby alleyway that lead towards the street. That realization, while a little late, did cause the girl to scowl at the back of the teen's skull before harshly removing her hand out of his grip. This action did cause the boy to gaze quizzingly at the girl behind him, only to find the said girl glaring at him with barely repressed rage. She understood what he was doing, understood it well enough to find annoyance in the action itself. He was not affiliated with her in the slightest, this much was clear to her, so that meant he was merely acting as a good samaritan thinking that she was in danger and required saving. Normally, this action would have been rewarded in kindness for his bravado in entering a normally dangerous situation; commonly given their gratitude via thanks or, like in those cheesy movies, a kiss from the damsel in distress.

Mugino Shizuri, however, wasn't a damsel in distress, she wasn't a fucking weak little girl who needed someone else to save her; she was a Level 5 and could have turned those punks into piles of ash in an instant if she so desired. That had been the cause of her ire, the reason behind her glare, and was nearly the last straw that needed to be drawn before her patience and composure reached its end.

"What the fuck was that…" The tone in which she had spoken in had been indication enough that she was not pleased with this turn of events, and normally would have been all it would take to send other's running for their lives. It would be clear even to the most casual observer that, should she receive an answer that was unsatisfactory, she would officially snap and do away with the source of her rage.

Unfortunately, the boy in front of her either didn't take notice of her obvious irritation or flat out ignored it. Either way, his response wasn't immediate, as he took to staring at her with the same level of confusion that one would expect to receive after being addressed with a painfully obvious inquiry. It was a gaze that asked 'do I really need to explain myself' kind of look, which the girl he was applying this gaze to didn't seem to catch. Having forcefully removed her wrist from his grasp a few moments ago, he finally turned to fully address the girl whilst chuckling sheepishly and scratching at his cheek with his index finger, undoubtedly unprepared to be faced with such a question.

It wasn't the first time he had risked his neck for random strangers, not in this city, but he hardly ever stuck around long enough to have such questions directed at him. It was more or less on the grounds of his attempts to help inevitably resulted in him being the target of people's fury as a result. He was unfortunate like that, but in his mind it was a good thing since he would rather be the target of people's violent tendencies than someone else. Even if it meant he would be forced to run from dusk until dawn to escape them, it was still a much better outcome than someone else getting pointlessly hurt. It was cowardly to some people, he preferred to consider it as a tactical retreat since anything more than two people at once was something he couldn't possibly do. Two-on-One was his limit, anything above that and he'd run away and that was a general rule that most normal people in a similar situation would follow through with.

At least for people who didn't have any supernatural abilities or weapons on hand; otherwise it was a whole different ball-game.

But I digress.

"Eh heh heh heh….That was, um, the 'fetching up the lost friend' strategy." Responded the boy truthfully, his grin remaining quite sheepish as he continued to chuckle to himself quietly. "Honestly, I didn't think it'd work as well as it did. Usually when I do things like that it ends up back-firing on me and I end up being chased all through th–"

"The what?" Obviously the answer didn't sit well with her in the slightest if the ticking of her eyebrow wasn't a large enough indication. "I don't even know who the hell you are! Do I look like someone who needs other people to butt into my business!? Well, do I!?"

"W-well…there was a lot of them around you and I figured getting you out of the situation as fast as possible was the right thing to do."

"Oh, so I'm some fucking damsel all of a sudden, huh!?"

"Why are you getting so mad at me for? I was just trying to help."

"I didn't ask for your fucking help you shit-stain!"

In that instant, her anger must have reached the point of no return, as a single sphere of green energy sudden faded into existence, causing the teenager to tense and take a single step backwards. Having grown tired of the situation, combined with the annoyance of being forced to wait so long for the other members of ITEM to arrive, she decided that venting out her frustrations was necessary at this point in time. While they had indeed gained a bit of distance from the group of thugs, they weren't necessarily near the main roads; in fact the two of them were currently in an center of a long alleyway. This would allow her the means to properly vent without alerting Anti-Skill or Judgment with her powers. That and it wouldn't do for what little she cared about public image if she were seen blasting some no-named teenager's arm or leg clean off his body.

She wouldn't kill him though, she would be merciful enough to allow him to live; but he didn't get to a hospital than it wouldn't be her fault if he died.

With that though in mind and her intentions clear, a brilliant beam of green energy shot towards the young man in question like a bullet. It didn't need much of a prep-time to trigger its effects and once it was sent out than there was very little out in the world that could effectively stop her attack. It was one of the most powerful offensive abilities in Academy City, it was a power that was so great that even she couldn't completely control it. It was not a matter of her inability to do so, it was the matter that her power was incapable of being controlled. That was what the Meltdowner was, that was the reason she possessed the highest rank an Esper ability can achieve, and that was why she was the leader of ITEM.

Having seen this outcome numerous times over the course of being here in Academy City, Mugino Shizuri didn't even bother to watch as the events unfolded towards the most likely outcome. She was sure enough with what was to occur that she had already turned away from the sight whilst clicking her tongue in annoyance and making her way to exiting the dirty alleyway. It may have been in the direction those same thugs had been located, but she lacked the ability to care at this point; having decided to simply do away with them should they pester her any further. Having said that and confident that she would remain undisturbed, she reached into her purse in search of her phone; only for a sudden sound reverberating off the walls of the alleyway to reach her ears.

It was a noise that she couldn't place, a sound that was difficult to describe; hence the reason she had glanced up from her phone to see where the disturbance had originated form only to be rewarded with nothing. Just as she was about to disregard what she had heard, something else came to the forefront of her mind; something that she would surely would have been noticed at this point. But the fact that it wasn't noticed yet troubled her; and that was the lacking of an agonizing cries of pain coming from the person she had used her ability on.

"…that had been _way_ too close."

That wasn't a statement that belonged to anyone who was on the offending side of her ability. That sort of response, spoken in a manner that was devoid of any sort of pain or fear, did not belong to anyone who was on the receiving end of the Meltdowner. Sure, it was feasible to avoid the attack, but there was little to no room in this alley for such a maneuver to be possible without at least being subjected to the heat of the blast burning away at their skin. Yet when Mugino had turned around to address the speaker of that very simple statement, she allowed herself to be momentarily stunned with what she saw. To be precise, it was the lack of what she saw that made her openly stare in bewilderment at the teen in front of her. He was still in the same place he had been prior to her attack, not a single step forward or backward; with the only different being that his right hand was raised whilst his left hand was clasped around the wrist of the raised limb. What had startled her most was that there didn't seem to be any traces of injury on his person at all. Even his clothes were undamaged from her attack.

It was as if she hadn't done anything at all to him.

In that instant, her interest in this particularly ordinary teenager raised significantly.

Those that knew precisely who this girl was would say that gaining her interest was the last thing you wanted.

"So you're an Esper, huh?" Muttered the spiky haired youth, lowering his hand slightly to stare gravely back at the person who seemed to have a strange glint in her eyes. A glint that caused his gut feeling to go berserk; screaming at him to start running now before things get out of hand. While he would normally heed that fight or flight instinct, there was still something that he needed to ask beforehand, something he honestly wanted to know before any further action was taken. "Were you going to do this to those guys who were harassing you?"

Mugino, momentarily chose to forget about meeting up with ITEM in favor of this odd phenomenon that had presented itself to her. While she was indeed arrogant, a part of her in the back of her mind was scolding her for not witnessing the odd occurrence first-hand; having chosen instead to not waste any further time on the commoner. Now she was dreading such a decision, for her curiosity was making her anxious to try once more in hopes of witnessing the event so she could discern what had happened in the first place. Though the question she was addressed with was not missed, she herself didn't feel inclined to answer him; her curiosity regarding what he had done taking precedence over everything else. Still, she would give him something since it would more than likely be the last thing he would hear before she turned him into a smear on the concrete.

"Maybe, maybe not; I'll let you form your own conclusions." The way she had said this, along with the sneer that followed this statement, caused her otherwise gorgeous face to contort into something deranged, monstrous even, as the very glint that the boy had noted grew in intensity. "That's assuming you get out of this alleyway alive, of course."

"I see." Was the boy's response as he gazed back at the girl across from him. As the two stared each other down, a delightful chill went down Mugino's spine upon taking note of the hardened gaze that was being directed towards her; those cool blue sphere's shined with such intensity that she couldn't help but admire them. They were filled with determination and courage; things she was looking forward to robbing him of once he witnessed the full extent of her abilities. "I guess I have no choice then."

She had been so ready for a fight, enthralled in the idea of ripping away his hopes of defeating her and leaving him with nothing but a memory of her magnificent form looming over him before wiping his existence away in an instant. Having been so anxious to perform this twisted act of murder, she had not been expecting the result which had followed the teen's statement.

"…Huh?"

Dumbfounded, she couldn't help but stare blankly at the hastily retreating back of the teen who had aroused both her interest in and murderous intent. For he wasn't choosing to fight, he wasn't standing his ground to defend himself to the bitter end like those sphere's had made it seem. No, he was instead following his instincts and chose to flee instead of fight. As a result, Mugino had remained in place staring owlishly at the retreating form as he was quickly approaching the end of the alley and into the streets of the city. Once the initial shock had subsided, however, the girl with soft-tea colored hair suddenly sprang back to life whilst her eyebrow twitched and a vein suddenly became more pronounced.

"YOU FUCKING COWARD, GET YOUR ASS BACK HERE!"

With a surge of energy and her drive to fulfill her intentions, the gorgeous girl suddenly lost all the urge to utilize her abilities and chose to pursue the teen on foot; running as fast as she could down the alley to catch up to the lad and beat him to death with her bare-hands. Yes, I said bare hands. She wanted to actually feel his bones breaking under her fists rather than turn him into dust; that was just how severely pissed off she was as a result of his spinelessness.

"NO WAY, YOU'LL KILL ME IF I DO THAT!"

One would like to think that there was an ulterior motive behind this cowardly choice of action. Perhaps he would be leading the obviously crazy girl away from a populated environment and take care of her away from the viewing public. Maybe he was trying to wear her down by having her exhauster herself through chasing him, then in her weakened state beat her senseless. The sad truth was there was no underlining purpose behind him running away aside from saving his own hide. Of course he didn't want people to get hurt, but he himself didn't want to get hurt, or in this case possibly killed, either. Self preservation was a common trait in all forms of life, and if that meant running away like a coward then so be it. Even if he did have the means to defend himself against Espers, it wasn't something he squandered every time he was in a bad situation. In most cases, he would much rather not have to fight at all and this was no exception.

For this teenage boy, Kamijou Touma, had the simple desire to live a normal and ordinary lifestyle. He was just an ordinary boy with a special ability in his right hand; nothing more or less than that.

"THAT'S PRECISESLY THE POINT, NOW GET BACK HERE DAMNIT!"

Might I mention that he was also a poor boy with an amount of fortuity so minuscule it may as well have been nonexistent?

"FUKOU-DAAAAAAAAA!"

Even worse yet, being chased by someone dangerous was a rather common occurrence to him.

* * *

In an undisclosed location, a girl with blonde hair and blue eyes continued to stare at her phone with a mix of puzzlement and unease. She had been staring at her phone for several moments now, with each second that passed the more she grew uneasy. Her attire consisted of a black, tight-fitting sailor top, a pleated skirt, white pumps and dark pantyhose; with a black beret adorning her head. The girl's blue eyes continued to gaze at the phone; more specifically the screen which displayed all previously dialed numbers that had been made recently on it. The list of numbers had been the same, as it had been for the past half-hour, and the intravols between each call being at least five minutes. Six times in total, and each call being made remaining unanswered.

"Basically, she's not answering." Murmured the blonde, snapping the phone shut whilst she sucked on her bottom lip. "I wonder if she has her phone on vibrate or something."

"She's super going to kill you for this you know." Stated the person behind her, someone who was previously looming over her shoulder to peer at the screen on the phone. "I can't believe you super forgot to tell her the location of our target had changed."

The person who had spoken was another female with short brown hair and dark eyes who appeared to be about the same height as the blonde. Her attire, attest to the blonde, was noticeably different in contrast to the blond. The was mainly because it consisted of a orange, sleeveless, hooded vest with a white short-sleeve shirt underneath, plain yet dangerously short cut denim shorts and red sneakers. Between the two parties along, this girl appeared particularly normal if one were to overlook the amount of leg-skin that was exposed.

Said girl clearly looked amused as she stood in place shaking her head at her companions foolishness. Of course, the job had been completed anyway, but the fact of the matter was that the person the blond was trying to contact was left out of the loop and thus 'punishment' will be distributed towards the blonde for her foolishness. At the very least, though, she wasn't going to be stuck in the crossfire and could sit and watch from a distance without having to worry about being on the receiving end.

"Basically, I'm aware of that; hence why I kinda don't wanna call her again to tell her everything is done already." Grumbled the blonde as she flipped her phone back up and hesitantly hit the number to speed-dial the person's phone for the seventh time that evening.

"She's within this general area…" Was the soft-spoken statement that was made by someone who was far more secluded from the two girls, which caused both parties to turn their attention towards the person in question.

Again, it was another female; though her expression was clearly devoid of any real emotion. Short darker brown hair and matching dark brown eyes, this girl in particular was arguably the most important person among the three of them, whilst also dressed a manner that was most unflattering. It was a simple pink track-suit, nothing more or less than that with matching colored sneakers on her feet. With only a small portion of the sport's jacket being zipped down, it was still clear to note that she was at least wearing a white undershirt beneath it. Aside from those things, however, there were no additional accessories carried on her person; which many would consider appearance as plain and less stylish compared to her choice of company.

The instant those words had spoken, the blonde holding the phone open towards her ear had realized the ringing had stopped, along with taking note of the fact that ragged breathing could be heard on the receiver.

"What, Frenda!?" Clearly, the person on the opposite end of the line was agitated about something, given how loud and how harshly she answered her mobile device. To this, the blonde now known as Frenda began to grow increasingly aware of how much trouble she was going to be in the near future. Despite this, the blonde couldn't help but notice that, while she had indeed sounded quite angry, she was also just as winded; which in turn caused her to grow concerned even if it was slightly.

"U-um, basically I was calling to tell you that the job's done…" Responded the blonde, chuckling awkwardly for a moment before continuing with the message she had originally intended to give; though spoken in a much faster pace than normal. "andIforgottotellyouthetarget'slocationchanged."

In her head, the girl with the lighter brown hair began the mental countdown in which the person on the opposite end of the phone was going to explode as a result of her anger. When that timer ran up was when Frenda was supposed to reel back from the loud voice on the opposite end of the phone blaring into her ear. Yet, oddly enough, this did not occur; which now caused the girl in question to raise an eyebrow before stepping next to the girl with her ear lingering closer towards the receiver in hopes of catching whatever was to come through.

"Whatever, if that's all your calling about then you're wasting my time; I'm busy right now." That….had not been expected response from someone such as her, who usually tended to these jobs for the purpose of fulfilling her murderous intentions. She didn't care who got in her way, who was guilty or innocent; if someone opposed her she would not hesitate to kill them in response. So long as someone could continue to amuse her, she would continue to allow them to live, then once that amusement is lost she eliminates them without second thought. For her to disregard the job for the sake of some other task, it was either important to warrant her attention, or interesting to a certain degree.

Whichever the case was, it was apparent that she was not getting her way this time around; judging by the shallow breaths that were coming in through the phone.

"Is everything alright Mugino?" Asked the brunette, having decided to voice her own concerns in regards towards the person's well-being. "You sound like your super out of breath."

"That's because I am, Kinuhata! That fucking coward hasn't stopped running since we hit the open streets!"

"That's weird, we weren't told of any additional targets. Were you basically contacted about someone else that needed to be taken out?"

"…"

"Mugino?"

"Shut the hell up, I'm trying to find that piece of shit! He ran into the crowd….and as easy as it would be to kill them all I'd rather not have to deal with mess that would create for us in the long run."

"You want us to meet up with you? We'll help you find–"

"Who said I wanted your damn help!? Just go back home and don't bother me! I'll find that little pest myself and meet up with the rest of you later."

With her decision made final, the girl on the opposite end of the line hung up, the dull hum of the disconnection buzzing in the blonde's ear for a few moments before the device was closed. Shifting her blue eyes over towards Kinuhata, she found the girl's brown sphere's staring back at her with puzzlement being evident enough for even an idiot to take notice. With great uncertainty, the blonde pocketed her phone before shifting her gaze over towards the remaining female who had been silent during the course of the call. Said girl appeared as lifeless as the tone she used to speak; her eyes gazing out into the distance with no emotion truly event in them at all. Of course both girl's were accustomed to this behavior so it wasn't much of a surprise that, even with such a brief moment of communication, the girl in question wasn't paying much attention to the situation.

"…basically, what do you think has Mugino all worked up about?" Inquired Frenda, her gaze never leaving the darker haired girl, even though the question itself was directed towards the person beside her.

Said girl merely shrugged before stretching her arms out over her head as a yawn escaped from lips. "I don't know, but I super don't wanna piss her off. It'd be better if we just went ahead and just head back. We'll super be hearing about it tomorrow anyways."

"…odd…"

That single word caught both girl's attention easily, as her previously dazed expression gained a hint of curiosity whilst her head tilted ever slightly. Apparently, the effects of her ability were still in effect and tracking Mugino even now. It was for that reason that both girl's had chosen not to interrupt her, for the possibility to gain additional insight on the situation was a probability in terms of finding out who exactly the tea-colored girl was pursuing. If it was an Esper, they could relay some feedback to her regardless if she wanted it or not. The sooner she dealt with whatever she was doing, the less they would need to worry about it interrupting their job. It was one of the larger problems that their appointed leader had that was pretty much an open secrete; Mugino hated to leave things half finished and would go to great lengths to see to it that any loose ends are dealt with.

"Takitsubo?"

The silent tracker known as Takitsubo merely continued to stare out into the distance in silence; unsure if what had surfaced was worth mentioning or not. From what she could detect, there weren't any AIM fields that warranted concern within the general area of Mugino's current location. She could detect certain fields stronger than others, but otherwise there was hardly anything worth mentioning; which puzzled her a bit considering how long their leader had been chasing after them. To be truthful, most of the AIM fields she could detect were no higher than a Level 2, with a few Level 3's scattered about; but those were not even remotely near the location she was focusing on. With that being said, she began to question precisely who the girl was pursuing, and where precisely was he located? Normally it would be simple to location someone if she either had their AIM field's memorized or if they were of a significantly higher Level than most common-folk. But this situation wasn't the same; she felt no strong presense in the area and wasn't tracking the girl half an hour ago to memorize it and effectively follow it.

So, once more, Takitsubo had raised the question once more: just who was Mugino chasing after?

"Takitsubo!"

It was a question that would need to be addressed at a later time; for now she simply wanted to go home and sleep. She had long sense passed the threshold which allowed her to safely use her ability without succumbing to fatiegue too quickly. If she used her ability any longer; than it was more than likely she would lose consciousness within a few seconds. With that being said, she turned her dazed eyes over towards the two girl's who were awaiting her response; to which she merely blinked before leaning her head back against the wall behind her before responding in a rather flat tone that was common for her to use.

"It's nothing."

* * *

And its done, my first official fanfic outside the Naruto-verse. I'm not gonna lie, I enjoyed writing those stories, but Index has an allure to it that I can't shake no matter how hard I try to ignore it (read: I don't try at all) so I did this. Now, if an explanation is in order, I'll provide one that explains how/why I wrote this. Firstly, I had found it amusing in my mind when I thought of the idea of Touma doing that same scene with Mikoto and actually succeeding, only to presented with a much more...troublesome situation than what he was expecting. While Mikoto has potential to be deadly, she is seen more like an annoyance to him than an actual threat at the time. I thought it would be interesting to have someone who is literally a sociopath after him opposed to a tsundere. In addition to this, I thought that, if the circumstances had been different, it was plausible for Mugino to have been the certain Level 5 that Touma would have come across during his random acts of heroism.

Plus, for reasons even I don't know of, I like Mugino...don't judge me.

While there may have been parts in here that seem unlikely, I believe there's enough reason behind minimizing her abilities in the open streets of Academy City than there would be in some abandoned facility where there were no witnesses Given, she didn't give two shits in Volume 16, but I think we can all agree that she was long past the point of being sane at that point in time. With that being said, I have reason to believe she was much more tame with using her abilities out in the open than she was then; less the Board of Directors start hounding her and the rest of ITEM.

If there are any inquiries, thoughts, or concerns that arise in your mind, feel free to address them to me in your reviews; and I'll do what I can to answer them. Otherwise, I hope you enjoyed my little piece of work.

Goodbye for now.


	2. A Day in the Light

Hello again to all!

Glad to see such positive feedback on a simple idea; apparently a lot of you like the Yandere path in Dating Sim games or something. Jokes aside, I'm thankful for such a strong positive feedback I'm getting from this; I'll do what I can to not let you all down. I can promise nothing, because life comes first people, but know that I will do my best to update this as much as I can when I can. I also wish to point out that, yes, there is going to be times or chapters with lots of text in it. If you are not particularly fond of my kind of writing then I apologize in advance for any future walls of text that you may see. If it gets too heavy, inform me and I'll break things up but otherwise these chapters WILL be a bit wordy at times. It's unavoidable since this is my method of writing, and those who are discouraged by this can politely cram it.

The last part of that was a joke, just tell me to tone it down and I'll do what I can. Other than that statement, enjoy the second chapter of A Certain World of Darkness.

* * *

There comes a time in every person's life where they reflect on the past, the events which had taken place that led them to where they were in the present. Most individuals perform this act rarely, which would typically cause them to have an epiphany to occur and ultimately change their ways. There were others of frequently referred back to a later point in their lives to reflect on certain actions they had taken, an eternal reminder of what acts they had committed and what had been done differently since. Of course, there were some memories that were not meant to resurface; old scares that hadn't healed and thus needed to be buried in order to move onward with their lives. There may have been nothing fundamentally wrong about reflecting on past actions, but consistently reminiscing tends to cause those people to live back in those times and not in the present. One could wish and dream for an opportunity to change the events of their lives all they wanted but ultimately such a pipe-dream was not possible. There was no possible way to change the flow of time, no way to right the wrongs of events that had long since been carved into stone.

As harsh as it was to say, the past was just a memory and it was the present which people should embrace and eventually accept. Grim realities aside, the future can become much brighter for someone who actively tries to make it better instead of rotting away in the 'what could have or should have done' mindset.

In saying this, however, a certain young woman absentmindedly stared out the window with her brows furrowed and her lips set in a scowl. Her thoughts had all but drowned out all the noise surrounding her as she sat at her usual meeting spot for ITEM. Said location was a small café in District 15, not as high class as some other places but still a rather popular place for groups of friends and fellow classmates to hang out at on occasion. The prices were fair, their menu was diverse enough to fit most people's tastes, and it was located in a reasonable place that made it convenient. Those had been her reasons for Mugino to have ITEM meet in this place, as going from district to district was too tedious a task for her to bother with.

But the objects on the menu and the cluster of people around the booth were the last on the list of things in her mind. She had more pressing matters that had suddenly taken priority; namely that teenage boy who had unintentionally grated her nerves. The situation which had occurred wasn't what irritated her really; having long since forgotten about the group of thugs in favor of chasing down and beating that boy to a pulp. What had really annoyed her was the fact that his normality had worked in his favor, having escaped shortly after he had ducked into a crowd of students. That thought alone pissed her off to a degree which didn't need further elaboration; what made it worse was the fact that she had little to no means of tracking him at all. No name, no Esper Level, not even a school insignia on his clothes; nothing. Sure, it may have only been a day since then, it still infuriated her enough for the members of ITEM to become hesitant to try and approach her.

An angry Mugino Shizuri was one that not many people liked to be around unless they had a death wish.

In spite of all this, however, there was a single saving grace that made tracking him possible; if only by a small margin. She had taken his entire physical appearance into account and with that she could possibly use that as a means to find at least someone who could either identify him or at least point her in the right direction. The only problem was that, with the population that made up Academy City, the chances of locating him anytime soon would be slim. She could just report his appearance to Anti-Skill and have them locate him in her steed; it wouldn't be difficult since it would be some poor Ojou-sama's word over an ordinary, no-named, teenager. She wouldn't even need for him to be arrested; all she would need to do was show up at the viewing and claim that none of the suspects in front of her were him. At least then she'd have a chance to kill him once he left the local Anti-Skill department and not be forced to locate him herself.

While that little strategy would suffice under normal conditions, there was one major flaw in that logic that made it infeasible. Her status as a Level 5 ruined the image of a frail high-class student, as she was more than capable of handling herself just fine. Using the excuse of being mugged by some commoner was very unlikely, thus leading them to believe that she had an ulterior motive. She couldn't risk that, not with her line of work, and having Anti-Skill and possibly Judgment monitoring her was the last thing she wanted to have done. ITEM's backer could pull some strings to have that problem taken care of, but Mugino would rather not be in that person's debt in a personal matter. Her pride as a Level 5 wouldn't allow her to depend on anyone else for matters which _**she **_held an interest in; hence the reason she couldn't allow the fellow members of ITEM to assist her in her search either. Debts didn't matter with them as opposed to setting an example of doing things independently and effectively; for if she couldn't track and eliminate a target then what point was there in her being the leader of them in the first place.

That was her belief anyway; the other three girl's may have classified it as her being stubborn if they had the guts to voice it aloud.

Speaking of which, Mugino was surprisingly alone this time around; which wasn't usual considering her group meetings always took place here and the three girl's were frequent customers. They always entered and left the establishment together as a group, but oddly Mugino was the only girl present at the moment. The drink she had ordered remaining untouched and spaces beside her vacant aside from her purse. This raised the question as to why she was there in the first place, which would be answered with a scuff and promptly be ignored from then onward. But the reason she was here was simply because she wanted to be in a place where she could view the outside world even if it was on the opposite end of clear glass. She wanted to stare out into the world of commoners in hopes of seeing a familiar face in the crowd of people and proceed with her agenda. Sadly, she hadn't caught sight of anyone who even looked remotely similar in appearance to the spiky haired teenager from the night before; hence they scowl.

Maybe she was getting too worked up about all of this? Perhaps it she just needed to calm down a bit, get some work done to take her mind off of that cowardly bastard for a little while? Reverse psychology dictated that if you made yourself believe that something wouldn't happen, the opposite would occur. It was foolish logic in her opinion, but what harm could it do to try it? Who knows, maybe that crap actually would work for her and she could get the results she wanted sooner rather than later in the end.

With that in mind, the girl with soft-tea colored hair took a few moments to perform slow, calming, breaths to regain her composure. The action succeeded in relaxing her enough to where her annoyance wasn't as pronounced on her features as it had previously been a moment ago. With her eyes still gazing out the window, she took note of Frenda and the other two members of ITEM making their approach towards the café. By the time the three girls had entered and seated themselves around her, Mugino's features had regained their usual passive appearance; her soft features portraying the image of royalty beautifully as normal.

"What kept you three?" Attest to the previous night's conversation over the phone, Mugino's voice had very little malice within her tone. It was a genuine question, though the underlined and barely noticeable traces of annoyance were still present to those who knew her well enough.

"Basically, someone stopped the tram before it could leave the station." Responded Frenda, who was sitting beside her whilst shrugging her shoulders. "Some kid got on without their guardian and so it was stopped so the kid could off and to his guardian."

"It was funny because the emergency stop only lasted a few minutes or before the auto-tram super left the person after it didn't register any malfunctions." Snickered Kinuhata, who was sitting diagonally across from Mugino and clearly amused by the person's bad luck.

"Fascinating…" Murmured Mugino, having lost interest in the explanation partway through, taking note of Takitsubo's form gradually slid down in her seat across from her.

As the group of girl's gradually began their delve into their own discussions amongst each other, Mugino's gaze lingered back towards her untouched drink whilst stirring the contents in the glass with the straw. The ice had almost melted entirely at this point, meaning that it wasn't going to taste well even if she decided to drink it; meaning she'd need to order a new one to replace it. She didn't really care that much, she wasn't hungry or thirsty at the moment. She was already aware of the fact that ITEM didn't have any other jobs that needed to be done, so coming here at all seemed rather pointless since they had no other official business to take care of. Of course, they were on call so the situation could change at a moment's notice, but if that was the case then she would just send the other three the details and have them meet up at a pre-selected location and work from there onward. The only reason they were here now was for a very simple reason; maintain public image.

In the world of lights, the world where people like herself didn't belong to, they were just four friends spending an afternoon together like normal girls would. They would of course shop, have a bit of fun out in public to maintain the image that was expected of normal girls. But the fact remained that they weren't normal schoolgirls; they were professional killers and combat experts. The fact that only the four of them made up a formidable group further displayed how well they did their job and their over-all success. Though, when ITEM had originally been created, it's purpose had been for the sake of keeping their actions discreet; something that was very difficult to manage when you had a larger group of individuals working under the same leader. The bigger the organization, the easier it is for your actions to be noticed and thus lead to authorities becoming able to track certain movements that were made. That was the reason behind ITEM only consisting of four people along with reason they had managed to get away with a majority of their actions; though their backer did provide support when it was necessary for her to do so.

"–at's the rumor that's going around lately."

"I super don't believe in those urban legends. All of them are baseless and most of the time inconclusive; what makes that one any different?"

"Basically, this rumor has some truth to it; there have been witnesses."

"What rumors?" Inquired Mugino, finally deciding to enter the conversation even if it was pointless. "Wait, let me guess, there's a building that suddenly disappears overnight."

"That's a false rumor, but it's not the one I'm talking about." Responded Frenda, having taken out her phone from her skirt pocket and accessing the internet. After a few moments of waiting, she had accessed the internet through the LAN and entered the site most of the articles regarding rumors of Academy City were located. "The rumor is about an Esper with an ability that can nullify all other abilities."

That sentence alone almost made the girl in question spill her drink as her hand practically moved like lightning to retrieve the phone from the blonde's grasp. With her eyes completely glued to the screen of Frenda's phone, she began scanning its contents before using the device to locate any other cases similar to the one listed on the site. It didn't take long for several more links leading to further discussions regarding that particular topic, as it was a rather bold statement that would ultimately become the target of skepticism. While most of those urban legends were as Kinuhata claimed, there was in fact a few which did bare some truth to them. She knew this because she had, once upon a time, been the target of those urban legends. Of course, most of them were often covered up or distorted by the higher ups of the city to keep classified information from getting out. But, if there was one fact of life that Mugino was very well aware of, it was that a skilled enough person could use the truth to cover up the lies and use lies to cover up the truth. The fact there were so many people doubting, all of which had claimed to be researchers in the PDC, was proof enough that they were trying to hide it by deeming it as 'something within the realm of possibility but very unlikely'.

Could that ordinary boy who cowardly ran away from her be the person this rumor was focused around?

"M-Mugino?" Frenda, who had been jabbed quite harshly in the side as a result of the girl's haste for her phone, curiously spoke up. Let's face it, Shizuri's behavior was shifty at times, but it was never this odd especially when it was out in the open like this. What was going on? Surely something like an urban legend wouldn't be enough to entice her this much; regardless of if it was true or not.

"…that person who stopped the tram….what did he look like?"

"Huh?"

Despite this responce, Mugino's question did not receive an immediate answer, though the girl in question was too busy searching through all the information she could find to try and determine if that teenager she had met last night was the same person the rumor was based around. But the information portraying to the urban legend was scarce as it was, and so far all the sites she was visiting that revolved around it did not have any sort of evidence regarding what the person looked like who had that ability. Once again she was left without a name, without any clue regarding who exactly he was; but at least she had a better grasp at who she was looking for. She knew what he looked like and if the rumor was in fact true, then the likelihood of this ability actually existing was proven. That boy had done something to stop her attack, something to that made him leave that alleyway unscathed and escape. If his ability was on the grounds of nullifying any ability out there, than it only made her all the more interested in locating him to prove or disprove this new development.

"We only super heard about it from the other passengers." Responded Kinuhata in Frenda's steed, the amount of concern that was present in her tone being quite evident. "Nobody said what he looked like; just that he was a high-school student."

Having heard that, Mugino let out a disgruntled sigh before texting the links to the site on Frenda's phone to her own. She would do her own research later, when she wasn't being subjected to the concern of her peers. Not that it mattered what they thought of her sudden shift of interest, but the less they got involved the better. This was a personal matter, not a matter that ITEM as a whole needed to stick their nose into. Personal business was to be dealt with on their own time, not during the job. Even if she was being a bit hypocritical with that statement, certain exceptions sometimes had to be made and that was only when she personally decided it was not too trivial of a matter. So long as whatever personal matter could be completed swiftly, then she didn't care but that was only when she decided it was worth the time. That boy had certainly been worth the time, especially now that she had more information to back her claims…if she had to claim anything to anyone of course.

Snapping the blonde's phone shut, she placed it down onto the counter and slid it back over towards Frenda, who caught it before it could slide off the edge. Even still, the blonde cast a cautious glace towards the girl in charge; clearly confused about her actions yet wise enough to know not to comment on it. Her blue eyes merely continued to stare for a few moments as girl with tea-colored hair stared down at her drink with a glazed eyes; clearly deep in thought. Those same blue sphere's shifted over towards Kinuhata, who had also wore the same level of concern and confusion as Frenda. Both parties had seen the much darker and sadistic side of their leader many times since the formation of ITEM, so they knew better than anyone how serious the girl could be when she sets her eyes on something. It was almost scary to think that, behind that gorgeous face and flattering physic lay a monster that, when a prey has been marked, will not rest easy until her quarry has been snared.

They knew of this, seen it before, and in every way was fortunate enough not to be the person whom the girl was hunting after.

"By the way, Frenda." Muttered Mugino, apparently breaking out of whatever spell had left her in a daze as she glanced over at the blonde whilst her eyebrow twitched in annoyance. "Don't think I've forgotten your little mishap last-night."

In that moment, a strong feeling of dread entered the heart of a certain blonde member of ITEM.

* * *

As stated once before, there are certain points in time which one finds themselves reflecting on past decisions that had ultimately changed the course of their lives. Every person does it, every person wished for a chance to go back to certain points in their lives, and every person had to eventually come to accept that the past cannot be changed. Some thought this more often than others, some had many things they wished to repair in their past, and some considered that fate had a bone to pick with them. Kamijou Touma was one of those unfortunate people who believed that a certain deity had a grudge against him for reasons he did not know of. He wasn't an overzealous believer in terms of religion, but one could hardly blame him for all the misfortune which befallen him on a consistent basis. That had honestly been the main reason he often reminisced on his actions in the past in hopes to find something which he had done to have angered any higher being that existed somewhere in the universe. Each time he did, however, nothing noteworthy ever came to mind, nothing that he had personally done to anyone. Certainly he would have regrets if he had done something to merit his misfortune; but nothing appeared in his mind.

This meant that it was either one of two things: some higher form of existence cheating him of his good luck or it was a result of his strange right arm.

Logically, the most plausible reason would be the latter; as Touma fancied himself to have enough good karma last him several lifetimes. He doubted that the greater being would hold so much resentment to deny him even a single day of peace and good luck. That had been the conclusion Touma himself had reached, thus why he rarely thought too deeply about his past actions. He didn't need to really, he had done enough good things in his life since he had come to Academy City than most people would. Given, most of his attempts to help others tended to consequently end badly for him; but he didn't regret that. In his mind, if it was him, then it was fine for him to be unfortunate instead of someone else. If he was like everyone else, if he was someone who had good things happen to them like normal, then he would have neglected the those who were less than lucky. It was a sad truth of the world, but human beings tended to ignore the ugly side of the world in favor of maintaining the normality of their own lives.

That was what made him different, what made him unique in his own right; because he cared about more than himself and paid attention to those voices who cried out for help.

It also made him miss his tram that afternoon, made him almost lose his bank-card, and made him unable to finish his homework the previous evening.

For that reason we find the teenage boy trekking home with his school case slung over his shoulder as he made his way back to his dorm. Having to stay later than the rest of his fellow classmates due to supplementary lessons, it had been close to dawn by the time he had been allowed to go home. Factoring in the fact that he had been asked by one of his teachers to assist him in pulling weeds around building also contributed to his already extended stay at school that day. All of things considered, had it been anyone else, it would have been classified as possibly the worst day; to him it was ordinary. At the very least, he didn't have much homework that needed to be done tonight so that was the one saving grace of this whole afternoon. What that meant was that he could spare a some time to buy groceries since his food supply was running dangerously low.

Making his way towards the nearest convenient story to stock up on previsions, Touma's mind began to ponder a vivid event that had occurred the previous night; leaving his body on auto-pilot. Said event had been with that strange girl whom he had believed to be in distress. He wouldn't lie, the girl looked like one of those proper girls he often saw around District 7; someone who belonged to one of the more prestigious high-schools in the city. While he knew it was wrong to judge based on appearances, he knew enough about this city to know that those girls were often enough the victims of delinquents who wanted more than just money. He never once liked seeing such a sight and while most of the girls in schools, such as Tokiwadai, had more than enough power to defend themselves they were still hardly ever exposed to situations which required them to use it in a manner of self defense. In the face of a very real danger, one tended to become less than capable of concentrating on using their abilities opposed to using it for demonstration or testing purposes. But that girl, the one who chased him for nearly half an hour before finally losing her in a crowd; she was definitely not in the same criteria as those previously mentioned.

The interaction between them had been brief, it had been less than satisfactory on his part especially, but there was something about her that screamed 'wrong' quite loudly in the back of his mind. There was no explaining it, or perhaps there was and he was just too out of it to think of the best term, but something in those eyes wasn't right to him. Something that had shaken him a bit, taken him aback subconsciously, and determined as something he should avoid contact with for as long as humanly possible. Though, with the latter though, the chances of a second encounter with that girl were pretty slim to none. With the population in Academy City reaching in the millions, what were the odds of running into the very same girl twice in the span of twenty-four hours?

Even so, the boy still couldn't shake the feeling of discomfort that was persistently gnawing away at his subconscious mind at the. He couldn't place it at the time being, so he chose instead to ignore it and focus on the present rather than the doubtful possibility of crossing paths with that girl any time soon. Truthfully, he was glad for that choice as he nearly walked past the walkway that went over the busy street across from where his dorm was located. Of course, a simply backtracking was a problem or even using the next overpass walkway would suffice, but to someone who wanted to get home as fast as possible, even the most miniscule of distance counted.

As he ascended the steps, he took note of the sizable crowd that was still out and about despite the fact that the sun was setting. It wasn't uncommon for other students to still be out at this time, some students attending cram schools tended to leave the facilities around this time and, in some cases, the evening hours before curfew. For the general populous, it was prohibited for students to be out any later than ten o-clock unless you didn't have a problem catching trouble with Anti-Skill or had a noteworthy reason to be out at that time. The collage students had more leeway than teens such as himself; some of them taking night classes as it was much easier to do that and hold a part-time job. Some cases were different than others, but the fact remained that those students had that privilege and were promptly left alone; unless they were getting mugged by some misfit or something.

"–uper don't get what's got her so worked up."

"Basically, that rumor I told her about has gotten her anxious for some reason. Who knows, maybe she just wants to see if it's true or not?"

"She super doesn't usually listen to those types of things; why the sudden interest?"

"Who knows?"

Had he been paying attention, had he not been spacing out the way he had been, Touma may have found whatever the two voices descending the steps out of the ordinary. But, as it were, he wasn't interested and simply carried on like he had been previously. He had heard the voices, tuned out the conversation, but he had still taken note of there being two speakers coming down directly in his path. So he adjusted his steps to where he would be climbing diagonally up instead of straight into the two girl's path. What he wasn't anticipating, however, was a third party located in the direct location he was headed; with the said party appearing to have been as spaced out as he currently was. Neither lad nor lass had noticed the other, thus the inevitable occurred where they forms collided at the shoulder; his right meeting hers. This unintentional action, unfortunately, caused the boy to realize he had bumped into someone, and the girl to loose her footing and slip.

Now, under normal circumstances, the poor girl would have fallen down the entire flight of stone steps and injure both herself and those who were in front of her. This situation, however, was not a case of normal circumstance; because unlike what most people have been led to believe, Kamijou Touma was a gifted in a normal sense. What that implies is that, while largely normal with the exception of his right arm, he had attained rather sharp reflexes that had been honed through multiple scuffles he had been involved in against delinquents. In saying that, the moment he turned his attention towards the girl and realized she was about to fall, his right arm was quick to respond in a subconscious manner; as if having a mind of its own as it tightly clasped itself onto the collar of the girl's track-suit. Thankfully, the material was durable enough to not stretch or tear as he tugged on it to help adjust the girl's balance. The girl in question, having expected to fall, appeared startled briefly before exploiting the opportunity to readjust her footing as the person who caught her intended her to.

All of this occurred in less than a few seconds; but those seconds had been all it took to cause Takitsubo Rikou to 'wake-up' from her dazed state of mind to address the person who had prevented her from falling. Of course, the boy's actions didn't go unnoticed by the other two girl's; both of which turning to see what was going on with their friend. From their perspective, with the way his hand was clinching the back of her collar spelled nothing suspicion that didn't sit well with either of them. Rikou's expression of surprise didn't help the matter much either, considering she was openly staring at the boy who had caught her with wide-eyed. There was a reason behind this look of blatant shock and that reason being was with the feeling of the tips of his knuckles touching against the back her neck.

It mattered little that there was skin-to-skin contact with another person being made here. That sort of thing didn't matter all that much to Takitsubo since she was almost always in a daze and hardly noticed. What was surprising to her, what made her openly stare in bewilderment, was the fact that she couldn't feel anything now. No AIM fields, no scales, no specific signatures that had been memorized for future reference; she couldn't even feel Kinuhata's AIM field and she was standing right in front of her. While it was true that her power's had specific requirements that were necessary for her ability to work properly, she could still sense certain fields if they were close enough to her general location. It was how she located and tracked people, it was the main reason why she was such an essential asset to ITEM despite not possessing any sort of offensive capabilities. Because she could track any ability memorized, she was useful in tracking and detecting the location of any Espers within an area. That was her purpose in ITEM, that was all she was supposed to do, and yet at this very moment that same ability was not working.

It was as if it had been turned off completely, as no amount of concentration yielded any results.

"S-sorry about that, almost made you fall." Responded the teen, giving a lighthearted laugh to try and ease the situation a bit. Shortly after this statement was made, the grip of his hand loosened on her collar as he retracted the limb away from her person. The moment he did so, Rikou's sensory ability returned to her, which only intensified the feeling of bewilderment; though she was at least capable enough of suppressing it for the time being. "You okay?"

"Don't worry…I would have been fine regardless." Responded the girl coolly, if for no other reason than to hide her sudden anxiety. "I apologize for my carelessness."

"Oh no, I wasn't paying attention myself really; it wasn't your fault."

"...Did we just super miss something?" Muttered a girl with a lighter shade of brown hair.

"Basically, Takitsubo is getting hit on by some commoner." Responded the blond in a hushed tone, not at all realizing how offended that statement had sounded to the said 'commoner' who had clearly heard the statement.

"Don't worry…" Spoke the meek appearing girl in the track suit, diverting his attention away from the blonde who had directly insulted him. "They are merely making the same assumption I was a moment ago."

"That doesn't make me feel any better!" It didn't matter if he knew these girls or not, directly insulting him and making false accusations like these was just plain rude; especially since he had acted out of reflex. "In fact, that makes it worse!"

"But you super look like someone who would be hitting on girls younger than."

"W-wh-what!?"

"Basically, you look like a delinquent who makes passes on school-girls and starts fights."

"Th-tha-that's not…." Honestly, he was at a loss of words for a brief moment in time; though admittedly it wasn't the first time he had been labeled as such. Really, it wasn't and it irked him to have complete strangers make such bold accusations like that right in his face. "What makes you think I'm like that; you don't even know me!"

"Call it women's intuition." Answered the lighter-haired brunette, flashing the teen a rather cheeky grin as she said it.

"…fukou-da…" Dejected and not willing to argue over something as petty as stereotypes, the teen merely sighed whilst supporting himself using the railing nearby.

"Basically, let's get going; I'd rather not get involved with someone like this out in public."

It was official; the blonde one was the worst of the three of them. That's what he told himself in his mind as the two girl's turned away from him and began re-descending down the steps and distancing themselves from him. He had no way of knowing this, but had he known that these three particular girls were actually professional killers; he would have been less dejected and more annoyed at the labels and insults the two girls were throwing at him. Well, he probably would have been terrified of these three girls than annoyed at them if he did know what their job entailed, but at the current moment annoyance would have had still been present. They of course knew very well what they were, knew full well they had no right to judge other people at face value, but simply chose to ignore it in favor of getting a good laugh or two out. He had, of course, already proven them wrong by only complaining about their insinuations and not acting in a threatening manner that would otherwise be expected from your typical brutes. But if he wasn't smart enough to figure that out for himself, then it was a waste of time to explain it to him; so they just left him to his own thoughts. Well, Frenda and Kinuhata did at least; Rikou on the other hand was not nearly as cruel as her other two companions. Proof of this was that, while still using the railings to support his hunched form, Rikou took a moment to tug on the back of his shirt to get his attention. Once that was attained, she merely shook her head, silently informing him that she didn't share the same mindset as those two.

"Thank you." While it cannot be said that Kamijou Touma always expected to be thanked for his good deeds, regardless of how large or small they were, it was still nice to receive it every once in a while. Said girl politely, though with great hesitation, held out her hand for the boy to shake as a means to display her good faith. "Takitsubo Rikou."

"Huh?" Was the immediate response she received from the boy in question, only to come to the conclusion that she was performing an act of common courtesy in giving out her name. He didn't know why she was doing such a thing, there was little doubt in his mind that they would ever meet again in the future, but if they did he would at least find solace in the fact that one of the three girls he had met today was likeable enough. That being said, a small lopsided smile made itself apparent on his features as he grasped the girl's hand with his right and politely shook it. "Kamijou Touma."

"A pleasure." Murmured the girl before releasing her hold on the boy's hand and taking a careful step back. With a half-hearted bow, she excused herself to rejoin her companions; both of which were staring back at the odd occurrence taking place a couple or so steps above them. The boy in question merely stuffed the same hand into his pocket as he watched the three depart; though only for a couple seconds before turning around and heading back up the steps to cross the walkway and head for home. As he walked, however, a soft but jovial humming tune began to escape from his still parted lips; whilst the same lopsided smile remained present as he moved.

Perhaps, his misfortune and insults aside, today wasn't as bad of a day as he had previously believed?

* * *

The moment in life where one tends to reflect on their past actions, though plentiful in number, often times occurs either during or after an unprecedented event takes place. Sometimes this wasn't required to occur for the thoughts to come to the forefront of one's mind, but in most cases it was. If one had the as much time as Takitsubo Rikou did to ponder her past actions, it was easy to understand why she reflected on her past. But she didn't do so for the purpose of finding some underlining reason things had turned out the way they had. No, she knew exactly how things had turned out this way, she had long since accepted it, and did not make excuses for her past choices. Her role in ITEM was, one way or another, a path she would have eventually have been forced to partake in; either by some other underground organization or another small group like the one she was a part of now.

No doubt that, even if there was an alternative back long before she could even recall, her fate would ultimately lead her to the very same place but under a different flag.

So what in her past was worth reflecting on? She had accepted the way certain things had turned out in her life, so what was it that was currently making her look back? To answer this, one must become aware of how ITEM worked. She herself was very aware of how the leader of their group viewed personal issues. Aside from the person having them in the first place, it was nobody else's business and to simply let them deal with it on their own. It was a standard, it was meant to keep certain facts about each of their lives personal so as not to impose on the rest. If ITEM as a whole got involved with something that had nothing to do with them, than that person was being nosey and that tended to lead to suspicion. ITEM had been established and maintained for a rather long time in Academy City, the members were expendable to Mugino but the fact remained that they had been working together for a rather long time now. Even still, it wasn't unlikely that someone who opposed their group could have been using any one of them to gain information regarding the other; even if the chances of this were unlikely.

Whether or not one of them had good intentions by butting in to another member's business, the fact remained that outside of work they each had their own privacy that was not meant to be disturbed.

Takitsubo Rikou, who was arguably the most reclusive of the four girls, was exceedingly aware of this factor. But even with that awareness, in spite of it not having anything to do with her, she could not ignore this situation. It was a personal matter that required addressing, information that needed to be distributed, and something that had to be done as quickly as possible. That being said, the question which had caused the subdued young woman to reflect on her past actions was very simple.

Could she really condemn someone, a stranger and someone who appeared to have no ill intent, to death?

Being ITEM's official tracker, locating targets and relaying that information to the other members wasn't something out of the normal. Once her task was done and the target was located, it would rightfully be assumed that she wouldn't feel their presence any more from then onward. She may have never actually killed anyone, her hands may be clean of blood, but that did not mean she was innocent. She had led her comrades to the location, they carried out the deed, but she was still partially responsible for their deaths. She used to feel guilty about it, felt terrible about how her powers were used to rob someone of their lives, but that feeling eventually began to fade as time passed until, eventually, the loss of a life was just a sign of a job well-done. Was it wrong to think like that? Did she really feel nothing for having assisted in ending the life of someone else; someone she never met or knew on a personal level?

The answer to that question was one she didn't care to answer; but admittedly, if asked, she would undoubtedly answer that inquiry with a yes.

She wasn't heartless, just indifferent.

It mattered little if she knew the person who she was tracking was an honor student or had a reason to be the victim of ITEM's wrath.

So why did she feel guilty about sending a text message to her leader regarding the name of a certain teenage boy she had just met? Why did she feel as though she was doing something far more horrible than actually killing someone herself? Why did she feel as though, through that act of identifying an ordinary high-school student with an extraordinary right arm, she had done something terribly wrong?

To this, Takitsubo Rikou could only stare out vacantly into the distance whilst those feelings and those personal inquiries flooded her being; all the while unable to locate a conclusive response to her own inquiries.

* * *

Ah, your reading this. That means you finished the chapter. Good, good, now for some after-notes.

As you saw, this chapter had the whole 'reflection' bit going on at the beginning of each scene. Let it be known that everyone does these things and its only a further display of how great the changes are from the cannon Index universe. These girls have done a lot, seen a lot, and have a lot of things that they look back on. Mugino herself reflects on her past actions twice in the light novels; proven during her second and final confrontation with Hamazura when she pegs the question of when she became a monster. What I'm doing here is no different, and I'm sure that Touma would periodically do the same thing; though for reasons obviously different from Mugino and the rest of ITEM.

That being said, I think its safe to assume that this chapter's 'theme' was reflection of past experiences. I think that, doing this, sets the mood for just how drastic the changes that are to soon occur will affect these girls in the long run. This is Touma we're talking about here; his presence alone is enough to alter the overall course of how things proceed and ITEM is no exception to this little rule. As for Frenda and Kinuhata's lack of personal development thus far...well, I'm still working out how to write them so bare with me on that little matter. Kinuhata's not so hard honestly, but Frenda is since there was so little time before she was torn away (Bad pun is bad!) from the story to really show her habits and personality clearly enough for me to depict.

With time, however, I should be able to get a better grasp of those two in particular; so again bare with me until then.

As last time, feel free to leave any inquiries, thoughts, or concerns that linger in your mind in your review. Also, if there are any mistakes that present themselves to you, please inform me so that I can make the necessary adjustments. Until the next chapter, I wish you all good health and good fortune.

Goodbye for now.


	3. When Darkness Beckons

Greetings!

Again, a nice turn-out in concerns to reviews; so thanks everyone who submitted one. To those who didn't, feel ashamed and go to commission for repentance! Kidding aside, I've received a few comments that kinda raised a few eyebrows, so I'm gonna address the one that really stuck out the most to me. I won't name the person, but I will say that I don't really find the idea of changing who Kamijou Touma is and what he stands for appealing. I like Touma because of who he is and how hard he struggles; its the same reason I like Hamazura because both of these characters are very much normal with Touma's only exception being his right arm. That being said, I doubt I'll be diverting Touma's personality too far from what it originally was, but that is subject to change depending on how I take this. But, for the most part, I'd like to keep him the way he is for the sake of maintaining the character which all of us somewhere inside respect, admire, and are inspired by.

There is another review that I will comment on at the end of the chapter, so for now my chapter rambling is officially over.

Now, please enjoy chapter three of A Certain World of Darkness.

* * *

Evening hours, between the time most students were shutting into their dorms and curfew, held a peculiar atmosphere to it that was often times difficult to depict. There was no true way to explain it really, none that came to mind at least, to best describe the sensation that subtly squirmed its way into a person's being during this time. The streets, while still busy in other Districts, were often desolate from the normal crowds of students continuing on with their everyday lives; their destinations already so well integrated into their minds that their bodies often moved on their own accord without thinking. Whether they were making their way towards their schools or traveling to the designated facility to carry out the tasks assigned to them mattered little; their bodies still moved instinctively towards that destination. For that reason, it wasn't odd to sometimes witness some people flipping through charts or books as they traversed from district to district; though in some cases they possessed an ability which allowed them to perform such acts as easily as breathing. It wasn't as far-fetched to see someone expertly weave through a crowd with a quantum physics book covering their face and not brush up against a single person.

This was Academy City, a place so technologically and scientifically advanced that the abnormal was ordinary, and the oddest of events can be seen as a common occurrence.

But at night, the time before curfew, held a certain feel to that couldn't be explained; though not to be mistaken as a feeling of discomfort. Night signified the end of the day, the time in which one succumbs to the comfort of their own little homes and relishes in the opportunity to relax and allow the brain to gain some well deserved rest. Some people were less fortunate than others in terms of relaxation, due mainly to additional work that is required long after school was over or one punched out of work for the day. Those people, with the blessings of many, were what honestly kept this city moving, forwarding its advancement, and made it a better place for people who lacked the patience or desire to perform such tasks. Those were the unsung heros of this city, not that they really cared about receiving much credit at the time, but it was a fact that many did not ever truly recognize nor appreciate.

But, the sad thing was, those people never really had the time to enjoy those little luxuries which people often took for granted. They didn't have the time, and even if they did they most likely not be sated with doing nothing or indulging the cool night air. That was the feeling which Kamijou Touma relished in during nights like these; where he could take his time, let his body move on its own accord, and just bask a bit in the night and nearly vacant space that made up the sidewalk as he moved. Less people meant a less than likely chance of running into someone willing to start trouble; which meant he wouldn't need to spend the majority of his evening running away from people who wanted to beat him senseless for a trivial reason or another. Knowledge such as that was what made nights like these, moments in general like these, silently cherish.

It was one of the few moments in time where he could gain some relative peace and overlook the day's misgivings for at least a little while.

As it was, Kamijou was indeed indulging on this feeling, not at all caring about the weight of the plastic bag hanging down from his hand. His expression had remained neutral during the course of his travels, neither looking overly pleased nor overly depressed. It was just impartial, nothing more or less than that and, for the most part, this detachment was how he proceeded with most of the time; unless of course the situation around him alters in a way he does not expect or find tolerable. For the most part, he would rather not want to get involved in the situations he ends up finding himself getting into; but when he did he couldn't find it himself to regret it. Sure, there were a few times which made him ponder why he did one thing or another, but he didn't really have any true regrets for his actions. Most would misinterpret that statement as him saying he never believed he was in the wrong. Such an inconclusive statement was commonplace for someone who, apparently, looked like a delinquent. But that interpretation couldn't be more inaccurate; for he knew when he had done something wrong and, if it was within the realm of possibility, he would do whatever it took to rectify whatever mistake was made.

It was just one of his many good traits that people would openly admit to. Say what you want in terms of appearances, but no one could deny that Kamijou Touma was a very selfless person.

Though, truthfully, it wasn't uncommon for someone to be even slightly selfish at times. Touma was no different on that matter; especially when it concerned his budget and food supply. Hence the reason he was out and about at this time of night, having arrived far past the point where getting a good deal on essential food products to last him until the following week. Knowing that, he opted instead to at least do his homework before heading out to stock up on provisions; dreading the inevitable loss of funds in his account once he had completed this task. Sure enough, his bank account took a considerable blow from his trip to the store; which meant that he had to make it last long enough until next week when he received some additional funding from his parents.

Silently, he was very grateful that his father had given him as much as he did out of his check every two weeks. It wasn't an extraordinary amount, but enough to last him and a little extra if he could properly manage his budget. The unfortunate fact is, half the time, money had a habit of trickling down the drain due to his own misfortune; such as losing a couple yen to a broke vending machine, misplacing a few bills from his wallet, his bank-card being eaten by an ATM, and once even had his **_entire _**wallet sucked up by those cleaning robot that roam around the streets constantly. He had to fight tooth and nail to retrieve it from the latter event; even ended up getting into some trouble with Anti-Skill for that one, but it was inevitably put aside since the situation was justified.

Even still, Touma just wished to spoil himself like any other youth his age would if he had the access funds to do so. He hardly ever had the means to do so, but when he did he didn't do it on something miniscule; it had to be something that would last and, overall, benefit him in the future. That, in its own right, was just proof enough that he had his bouts of maturity and wasn't at all wasteful with his money. He couldn't afford to be like that even if he wanted to. Ultimately though, the fact still remained that, even with such maturity, it didn't help his money situation in the slightest bit; fact it only discouraged him further.

Hence why he was doing his best to enjoy the calm, quiet, stroll back to his dorm; relishing in the cool night air that came in the evening hours. He had enough to worry about since summer vacation was on the horizon and, if things kept going the way they have lately, he would be stuck doing supplementary lessens for the entire length of his holiday. From the standpoint of an ordinary high-school student, he had the full intention of indulging on that little bit of time away from classes to actually have some, misfortune-free, fun with his friends.

"Kaaaaaamiiiiiiiiiiiiijoouuuuuuuuuuuuu!"

Odd, he could have sworn something dark and demonic was calling him. He must have been hearing things, yes, definitely hearing things and it was just the wind. That was the mindset of the said teenager as he deluded himself purposely to continue on his merry way back home. It was meant to be reassuring, even if he damn-well knew he was just making excuses not to turn to locate the source of the voice.

"Kaaaaaaamiiiiiiiiiiiijouuuuuuuuuuuuuu!"

Once again, it must have been a fabric of his overactive imagination. Who could possibly be calling out to him at this time of night? Despite that mindset, in spite of those thought of reassurance, Touma's pace noticeably increased as he walked. Proof of this being that the plastic bag which had previously been hanging lifeless in his hand was now swaying rapidly back and forth as a result of his increased pace. He did not dare turn to address who the mysterious voice was and where they were coming from. It was one of the basic rules if you ever found yourself in a situation befitting horror flick: don't ever turn around.

"KAAAAAAAMIIIIIIIIIIIIJOUUUUUUUUUUUUUU!"

"FUKOU-DA!"

All bets were off once the voice had shown up directly behind him and was practically blaring into his ears. In saying that, the teen forwent the delusion he was maintaining and simply started running. Touma no longer cared if everything in his bag fell out at this point; he just knew that getting the hell home as fast as humanly, and ordinarily, possible and seal himself up in his dorm room until morning. Had he looked back, which was pretty much not going to happen, he would have seen a classmate of his staring at his retreating back with a look of astonishment and slight irritation on her features as she watched him run. Her appearance was one very similar to Touma's in the sense that she could easily blend into a crowd of people without appearing out of place. The only distinctive traits she bore being the narrow-rimmed glasses on her face and the short brown hair that was fashioned into a low-hanging ponytail. Outside of that, there was little else out of the ordinary that made her stick out; something she knew and would sulk in a corner about if openly mentioned.

At this current time, she was staring out into the distance as Kamijou's form vanished from her range of vision. With a dejected sigh, she folded her arms across her, less than endowed, chest before making a single inquiry.

"What's his problem; he acted as if he was being stalked or something."

* * *

Five minutes after his 'escape', we find our Ordinary High-School Student panting with his back pressed against a building half a mile down the street from his dorm. His breath, though rapid, wasn't heavy at all; being chased by delinquents as frequently as he was had its benefits to say the least. That knowledge was something he was less than proud of admitting, but he even he could find the positive side in his misfortune when it he felt like it. At the very least, nobody could call him physically inept with the amount of running he did. Astoundingly enough, during the entire course of his sprint, not a single item in the plastic bag had spilled out. That knowledge alone was considerable enough to provide him with a greater sense of satisfaction than anything else. Having said that, maybe he was finally going to end his day on a good note rather than one that spelled disaster for him.

A soft chuckle escaped his lips at that thought; having already regulated his breathing back to normal and heaving himself away from the wall he was leaning against to resume his trek home. Said chuckles helped bring about a satisfied smile to his face as he took a few steps forward down the path that would inevitably lead him to home. As he performed these actions, that same positive outlook continued to play repeatedly in his mind. He was allowing himself to feel a small bit of victory over fate for once; having finally succeeded in one-upping whatever existence plagued him with misfortune for a change instead of the other way around. Had anyone else been present during this time, that person would have considered him crazy with the way he continued to chuckle to himself.

But, apparently, fate didn't fancy being laughed at.

So in response Fate had decided to remind Kamijou Touma that he was, to put it bluntly, its bitch.

In the four steps which Touma had made, he had passed the building which had a very narrow passage which separated one building from the one directly beside it. There were no lights there, no cameras, no fence, nothing which blocked off that passage from being entered or any security to monitor that specific area. But that was not all natural, for if one looked close enough and was able to see, they would note the glass littering the ground. A much easier thing to take note of was that, on the very corner of the opening to the passageway, a large hole was present where a security camera used to be located. But not a single one of these things was noted by the ordinary high-school student; but that didn't mean he was completely oblivious to his surroundings. It was, after all, very difficult not to notice the brilliant green light that illuminated the darkness in the alley, along with a portion of the area outside the threshold.

Then it came; that same brilliant green stream of pure energy that he had encountered not even twenty-four hours ago. Only, in this instance, it wasn't coming from his front, it wasn't easy to determine where the blast would go, and it most certainly wasn't just one. The only reason Touma could conclude such a thing was simply because it wasn't just one light he had foreseen; but several. No more than three, but that knowledge wouldn't have eased his heart in the slightest even if he knew the exact number of blasts being fired at him. Having been fortunate enough to notice and react was his saving grace here, and his choice of action had been very simple; yet at the same time very intelligent act on his part.

Having been subjected to the attack the previous evening, he had already come to the conclusion that these streams of energy traveled on a linear path; meaning they had a single trajectory that he could easily determine. Of course, being capable of determining the exact trajectory and reacting fast enough was a difficult task in itself to accomplish; given the velocity that these beams of energy traveled at. Henceforth, his reaction to this surprise attack had been simple; to duck. As basic a tactic as this was, getting closer to the ground was actually the wisest decision to make when you were someone in his position. For the moment his form crouched, his right arm rose instinctively in the direction the blasts were coming from. This had proven to be the best option, as two of the three streams of energy literally passed over his form whilst the third had been traveling in the direction of his mid-section had be still been standing. Had he the time to observe the trajectory of the previous two blasts, he would have noted that one had been aimed for his head and the other his right shoulder. Thankfully, with his right arm raised and his hand opened, the blast that would have disemboweled him had he still been standing collided with the extraordinary right hand and thus, turned the deadly attack into nothing.

"You're a real pain in the ass to find, you pest."

In spite of this statement, the speaker who had made this proclamation clearly sounded amused about something or another. Still standing patiently in the alleyway, the clacking of her shoes against the hard concrete almost seemed foreboding as the individual gradually advanced towards the teenage boy who had yet to rise from his crouched position. Said teenager didn't even completely lower his hand yet, taken instead to lowering it slightly to avoid to get a better view of the person who had attacked him without reason at all. By the time the clacking of heeled shoes finally ceased, the boy's deep blue eyes shone with realization upon seeing the same long soft-tea colored hair and lightly shaded brown eyes belonging to that same girl he had 'helped' yesterday evening. Of course, it should have been obvious to him at this point who his attacker was, but then again Academy City did have many people sharing a similar abilities as other people; if even to a slight extent.

Said girl, having finally stepped out into the dully lighted area, appeared to be looking quite satisfied with herself if the soft smirk on her features was of any indicator. Her left hand was positioned on her hip whilst her right simply hung limply by her side, her purse dangling between the gap created by her left arm's positioning. But, if Kamijou was to be honest, the thing that really had him captivated had nothing to do with her body or face; but instead her eyes. Those were eyes that should not belong to someone who had the body of a model, though he could not really say who or what kind of person those eyes should belong to. The point here was this; they were dark, they were empty, and they had that same familiar gleam to them that he had witnessed before.

"Though," That simple word had been all it had taken to capture every ounce of his attention. It had nothing to do with her tone, how it sounded to his ears, or any other common factor which would usually present itself when she spoke to males. They listened because, when she wanted to display her less than homicidal side, it sounded almost heavenly to their ears. Touma, however, was paying close attention for a different reason entirely; his reason being that this girl required his attention less she try to blast him again. "I will admit, seeing you practically on your knees is rewarding enough for my patience."

"Great…" Grumbled Touma aloud, though still refusing to move even slightly in the event that she attacked him once more. From this position, he could at least leap to a safe distance to avoid her attacks should she decide to use multiple beams like she had just now. In spite of this, however, he wasn't nearly as afraid as he very well should have been given who the girl in front of him was. If anything, though, he was more annoyed with this situation than anything else; having to deal with this girl the second time in nearly twenty-four hours. Could he really not get a break from these people chasing after him all the damn time! Was that really too much to ask for!? "…the angry oujo-sama of all people just _**needs **_to appear now of all times."

"Oi, what are you mumbling about down there, speak up."

"Nothing, nothing."

With a sigh, the boy slowly and cautiously rose back to his full height whilst maintaining his gaze on the girl who had oh-so-suddenly decided to appear before him. In retrospect, this action wasn't the best one he could have taken given the previous advantage he had in terms of maneuverability. He could still make a dive for it if he had to, but the chances of that being entirely successful were slimmer than they would have been prior to standing. Even still, that did not mean he had completely discarded his caution; for his right hand was still open and his arm was still leveled with his naval. If it came down to it, he could raise it fast enough to stop any sort of attack that was aimed at him dead on.

"So, is that the way you greet everyone you meet?"

The wise-crack inquiry that was ill-suited for a situation like this had done nothing to remove the smirk on the girl's features. Instead, the girl merely shrugged in response whilst shifting her head to the side, her gaze lingering towards the dark and vacant street in which the two of them were currently located on.

"There are worse ways I can think of to 'greet' people." The quiet laughter that followed this statement made Touma silently pray that he would never be forced to be on the receiving end of those 'greetings' in the future. He thought that because, at this point, it was unlikely she would be leaving him alone for some reason or another. "I'll be sure to show you sometime."

"I think I'll pass." Still sounding mildly annoyed with this situation, Kamijou gaze a fleeting glance down the vacant street which his dorm was located. He could make a break for it still, he could still ditch her if he just kept running, but he doubted the possibility of losing her at this point. It had been no coincidence that she had found him after only a day of searching; it was just inconceivable to do such a thing in such a short amount of time. So, coming to that realization, he figured the best thing to do was uncover the largest inquiry that came to mind. "So, what do you want?"

"Straight to the point, huh?" Though her head had still not altered in position, her eyes had moved instead to address the teen in question. This had allowed him to see the clear amusement that was assorted in with various other emotions that he could not currently depict. "Well, I want a lot of things, but for the moment I'll settle with…a challenge."

"A challenge…?"

"I don't think I stuttered; I want a challenge and I'm mainly curious about a little rumor that's going on around the city." As she spoke, the sound of her heeled shoes clacking along the concrete once more entered the boy's ears as she gradually came closer; her head was now to facing him directly whilst her eyes bore holes into his own and grew closer with each tantalizing step she took. "The urban legend of 'a man who could nullify other Esper abilities', I wanted to see if such a rumor was conclusive or not. You have proven it twice already that it indeed exists; now I want to see which of our abilities is stronger. My Meltdowner, or that right hand of yours there."

By the time she had finished speaking, she had moved her position to the point that, had he not retreated back a bit, she would have been well within his comfort-zone. Her expression had remained the same as it had before; betraying nothing yet displaying everything that needed to be seen. Again, though, the various emotions that were running rampant in those lightly tinted brown eyes were so many in number that it was nearly impossible to decipher them all. One thing that could be said though was that she was absolutely serious in this matter; so serious that it made him wonder if she was either overly zealous regarding this matter or feeling intimidated by the power his arm possessed. One thing was to certain, however; she certainly appeared confident.

"So you want me to act as a human target huh?" Was the analysis which Touma had voiced aloud, groaning loudly once those words left his lips whilst his posture became noticeably more deflated. His expression, which formerly held caution and concern, contorted into something that made this whole 'challenge' seem monotonous to him; his half lidded eyes and the deep frown on his features replacing the concern that was previously there a moment ago. Upon witnessing such a pitiful expression, Mugino began to silently seethe at how calmly and disinterested he appeared now compared to just a moment ago. "Sorry, but I'm tired, I'm hungry, and I've got class tomorrow; come back in a few days and we'll see."

W-was he really just brushing her off like some sort of pest? Was he **_really _**ignoring her as if she didn't matter, like she was some everyday commoner who he saw in passing every single day!? What right did he have to undermine her? What reason was there for him to believe in his right mind that it was ideal to turn his back on her with such carelessness!? It was intolerable, inexcusable, and most importantly the last thing anyone in this city should do in the face of someone such as herself!

She was Mugino Shizuri, one of the seven Level 5 Espers in a city composed of at least two-million people, and ranked the forth with her ability Meltdowner. She stood at the panicle of power in which every Esper that populated Academy City dreamed of someday reaching. She was the leader of an underground group, ITEM, and was backed by one of the Board of Directors. She had enough money to do whatever she damn-well pleased, had the looks to have any person she fancied, and have more political pull thanks to her backer to get away without anyone being the wiser. And yet, this teenager, this commoner, this insolent, ordinary, spiky-haired, ignorant _**worm **_was brushing her off as if she was no better than he was. But that couldn't be further from the truth, she wasn't normal, her being an Esper was testament enough of that, and she sure as hell wasn't ordinary. Her name was one that was well known within the darkness of this city; there wasn't a soul alive and thriving in the underground that didn't know who she was and how easy it was for her to destroy anything she set her eyes on.

He would learn this, this Kamijou Touma would definitely be left trembling in the wake of her wrath.

Had Touma been looking at her, or had Mugino been capable of seeing her own expression, one could clearly note that her features became less proper-like and more devious than anything else.

I don't think it needs to be said, but Mugino Shizuri wasn't one to taking 'no' as an answer.

Touma hadn't even taken two steps away from her before that same brilliant green energy shot past the side of his head like a bullet. His back was to her, he couldn't see her from his peripheral vision, but he knew from the silence that followed this action that she was staring at the back of his skull. And it wasn't from an angle in which she was gazing at him, she was directly behind him, while the stream of energy that had burst into existence and shot past him had only been off by ten inches or more. Since he had deduced that those beams of energy traveled on a linear path, he was easily able to conclude that she had the perfect shot at his head and purposely missed.

"I don't believe I was asking you." Uttered Mugino, the tone in which she spoke turning vicious and callous. For the time being, the girl who was speaking to him wasn't just another everyday person with an exceptional power at her disposal; but a beast that had finally cornered its prey. "You either accept my little challenge or you'll die; it's that simple."

Touma, as ignorant as he was, wasn't as oblivious towards a very real threat when he saw one. Esper's that he had encountered in the past usually were too scared to really try anything else once their abilities had been negated by his right hand. Those were the same types of people who squandered their abilities and were generally very weak people once they couldn't use their powers anymore. Touma never had a problem with those previously stated Espers, which explained why he was more annoyed with Mugino's little 'challenge' than intimidated or frightened. In her defense, she obviously wasn't aware of how many espers Touma had dealt with in his life since became clear what his ability actually was. To him, dealing with espers was like dealing with children who hounding at a teenager; persistent as they may be, they were still just kids who couldn't do much harm aside from pestering a person constantly.

But this situation was very different, this person was very different, and her claims going far past the point of being empty threats. She was very serious about this, she was equally serious about killing him too if he didn't obey to her whim. Personally, he didn't see why she was so obsessed about something so pointless. Seriously, did she not have anything better to do with her time than to bother him? Though, when he thought about it, she did say something about an urban legend that depicted the power his right arm was capable of. That meant she must really _**not **_have much better to do with her free time if she had found that little tidbit of information. Still though, urban legend aside, what was the point of going this far to prove something that, in his mind at least, didn't really matter that much in the first place?

He still had the option of running away. He knew this area quite well since this was only a couple blocks away from his dorm. Getting away from her would have been the best option, slip in between the buildings, hide out for a bit, and eventually sneak back into his dorm room once the cost was clear. Better yet, he could just call Anti-Skill and they could deal with this nut-job of a girl who was threatening his life. At the very least, all he would need to do from there was stall her until they showed up; something which wouldn't take much time at all. Clearly these two options would have been the best ones in the sense that he could avoid the entire situation by performing either option. So what was stopping him from performing either of these actions?

The answer was easy enough to determine once one was aware of their surroundings. This area of the district was filled with other dorms, meaning people who had retired for the evening were at home and in a enclosed space. Unless they spared a glance outside, they wouldn't know that there was someone outside who could basically fire lasers into their homes. He knew that, after intentionally missing her target just a moment ago, that there was a lot of heat coming off those blasts. Just because she had missed didn't mean she couldn't hurt him; in fact it briefly felt as though he was standing next to an exposed flame. He was sure that, if the blast had come any closer, he would have lost a bit of his hair and the area of his shirt would have burnt away due to the intensity of the heat alone. Other variables outside of her willingness to kill him if he didn't oblige her were how her attacks effect the surrounding area; with a high probability of getting some unsuspecting bystander hurt or even killed in the crossfire. Factors such as those were the main reason which kept Touma from following through with any sort of strategy which involved running away; hence why he remained rooted to the spot as he contemplated how to get away from this girl and avoid any collateral damage that could injure anyone else.

Of course, Mugino wasn't known for her patience and this was made pretty clear when he noted a greenish glow beginning to illuminate the area in front of him. She was preparing another possible warning shot, but he really wasn't willing to test his luck a second time this evening. Having said that, the boy exhaled noisily whilst his shoulders slumped a bit before once more turning around to face Mugino; taking note of her own annoyed expression upon meeting her eyes. Whatever it was that had irritated her must have dulled somewhat, as the small sphere or energy that was hovering over her left shoulder faded away as her body relaxed upon having attained the spiky haired youths full attention.

"If that's really what you want," For the second time in nearly twenty-four hours, Mugino was subjected to the same hardened, courageous, and determined azure sphere's that had sparked her interest the night before. As before, a delightful chill trickled down her spine at the sight of those eyes, eyes that only spurred her on to permanently rob him of and replace them with fear and anguish. "then I'll do it; but only under two conditions."

"Oh, and since when did you believe you wer–"

"_**Two **_conditions."

Calling it irritation would not do the situation justice if one were to be honest; having been interrupted by some piss-ant of a person was not something which Mugino tended to allow. Even though she held almost all the cards in this game, he still had the audacity to act as he stood above her. Normally, that action would have gotten someone killed in that instant, but she allowed it if only this once. After all, if it turned out she didn't like the terms in which he presented, then she would simply deny him those terms and proceed with her attack anyway. Whatever those conditions were, she would still more than likely fare just fine regardless of what they were. She was still a bit angry with his attitude, but she would at least hear him out; though it would be begrudgingly.

"And those conditions would be…"

"My first condition is that this thing doesn't last longer then ten minutes." Without missing a beat, the teen went ahead and addressed the first issue on his mind. Hearing that, Mugino merely crossed her arms across her developed chest before slowly nodding. Even if she had no intentions of following the terms he made, this one wasn't too much of an issue. Adding a time-limit to their little scuffle only limited the amount of time she had to toy with him before she ultimately snuffed him out of existence. Hence why it was a condition she was willing to accept; for it only provided an even greater challenge in the grand scheme of things.

"And the second condition?" Her tone, which had shifted back to a more subdued one, still had traces of mirth within it as she spoke. Honestly, the most she stared back at those eyes of his the sooner she wanted to get the event started. Just looking at them was exhilarating enough as it was; the thought of taking away what she was seeing within them was making her mouth water.

"The second condition…"

* * *

If one were to ask a person their purpose for going out into the evenings, the list of reasons can be as diverse as the color spectrum that artists use to pain. The reasons various, some having pretty common reasoning to go out while others had more elaborate intentions in mind for their endeavors. While its safe to assume that everyone who went out so close to curfew had malicious intentions, the ones who did often times had ways to avoid being caught out so late. Either by having someone cover for them or a place to go that would keep them out of being discovered by anyone; it all depended on the situation more or less. Anti-Skill couldn't be everywhere at one time, and with a population as big as two million it was impossible to keep track of every person's whereabouts. Given, there _**was **_technology which could do such a thing, it was pointless to exploit it due to the fact that it substantially violated personal privacy and would cause public uproar if such technology was used. It was used regardless, but only one person had access to it and only one person could exploit it without anyone being the wiser. That person was the founder of Academy City and General Superintendant, Aleister Crowley; but again that level surveillance and technology was reserved for him alone to exploit and no one else.

But I digress.

Among those who were out and about at this time of night, the subject of attention went towards one person in particular. Admittedly, though, he wasn't anything worth mentioning in terms of appearance. He was just another normal student and a person who was simply out at this time for the same reasons A Certain High-School Student had been out for; stocking up on supplies. He was a plain looking lad, scrawny build and rather bland clothing; basically he was yet another face that deserved nothing more than a fleeting glance before disappearing into the mass and forgotten. It was wrong to disregard an existence to that extent, but it was just how things were most cases.

Though, if for no other reason than respect, he at least had a name; and that name was Haigo Hensei.

He was just your run of the mill student who was performing the simple task of restocking his food supplies.

Nothing out of the ordinary and nothing worthy of future commentary.

But, as he was making his advancement back to his own dorm and call it a day, someone entered his line of sight. To be specific, two people entered his visual range that he could immediately take note of. One of these two people was a male, around his age, and appeared as average as he was in appearance. The only difference being his spiky black hair, something that made him stick out pretty well and most likely did a perfectly good job at making him more noticeable than other people. Aside from that, nothing else really stuck out, nothing worth musing over really; just another ordinary guy out during the evening hours…or at least that would have been his thoughts had the boy been alone.

Hensei had to guess that was walking pretty close behind him was his company; and boy what company he had. She was, literally, a bombshell that made his brain momentarily pause just from looking at her. Her long tea-colored hair, her fashionable attire, tall and developed physic; even the way she walked was enough to gain his undivided attention. Those factors alone were more than enough to have him captivated, but after mentally slapping himself he turned his gaze elsewhere to avoid getting caught staring at her. Not that anyone could blame him for it, but he viewed himself better than someone who shamelessly stares at women in passing. That led to people getting the wrong impression, which meant some girl would call him a rude at best and a pervert at worst.

Even though he fancied himself neither of those things, he couldn't help but shift his gaze from the boy to the girl as the three people gradually came closer to each other. These two individuals, however, were going the opposite direction as him, meaning that the three of them would pass each other before long. Even as the gap between the two of them gradually decreased, Hensei's mood steadily became more sullen as the girl's appearance became that much more stunning up close than it had from a distance. The fact that the boy in front of her was most likely her company instantly installed the thought that the two of them were dating. Envy entered his heart at the thought of someone just as plain as him had managed to score such a elegant looking girl; his heart screaming how unfair it was for someone else to be as lucky as the man before him.

If he hadn't valued the privacy of others and not wished to be labeled as a loon, he would have gotten on his hands and knees before the boy approaching him and beg for the secret behind his success.

"–uch further are you taking us?"

"We're almost there, just bare with me."

"You'd better keep your word, I mean it."

"Right, right, just keep up; it's not much further."

What were they talking about? Where were they going? What sort of promise had the boy made? Questions like these came in spades as the three people passed one another; neither party sparing him a second glance which only further installed that feeling of normality and indistinctiveness. He couldn't stand it, being so easily disregarded by such a babe and yet someone else similar to him was so lucky! It wasn't fair, it went against every rule that was conceived between normal people! The hot and sexy women were always meant to be with men of the same status; not some ordinary commoner like himself or that guy! That was the law of the universe, that was the unspoken and unwritten law of society!

It was just plain bullshit and unfair for that guy to be so damn lucky!

It was because of these nerve-wracking thoughts that entered his mind that the young man ceased his movements for a moment to clutch a handful of his hair and began tugging at it so hard that he may as well have pulled it out. During the course of this action, tears of frustration and envy streamed down his eyes at a fast rate. Yet, in spite of this aggravation and jealousy, a part of his heart had felt the need to complement the boy who had one-upped just about everyone he knew by having gotten himself such an attractive young woman as his girlfriend. The part of his heart which made him complement the lad in passing also managed to open the doors to a new perspective that made his actions cease once more whilst a spark of hope emerged in his eyes.

Perhaps it had nothing to do with looks, maybe status or class mattered when it came down to it all. Perhaps that guy did look average and normal, but there was still a possibility which had allowed that teenage boy to attain such a fine diamond such as that. It had to be the guy's personality; something which made looks and status become obsolete in the eyes of that girl. While appearances and class were indeed things that most women looked for in a man, someone with a good personality that was compatible with their own was a key factor which usually could make or break a relationship. Obviously the guy who had passed him had the traits of a good personality, for he himself could not think of any other reason why the girl would be hanging around him otherwise; especially at this time of night.

With that thought in mind, Haigo Hensei turned his attention around towards the retreating backs of the couple along the sidewalk; his eyes watering as he pumped his fist up into the air in the direction of his newest hero and idle. He would follow his example; he wouldn't let things as measly as appearance or class hold him back. He lacked both, but his personality would eventually win the heart of some girl out there in the future. He knew this now, and in his heart, mind, and soul he had a Certain High-School Student to thank for making him realize this. Hensei would make him proud, prove to everyone that even he could eventually have a girlfriend as beautiful as that boy's.

"Thank you." It needed to be said, it would be wrong of him not to display gratitude to someone who was deserving of it. He now had hope for the coming days, a reason to believe again, and a new inspiration to strive for a better tomorrow. With that simple action completed, Hensei turned around and presumed his journey back home; where he would rest for the coming day and become nothing more than a fleeting memory in the eyes of the couple whom he had turned his back to.

* * *

Hello there, nice day aint it?

Now, on with a few notes before I get to the other review mentioned above. You'll note that, in two of these scenes, the people which appeared were 'normal' everyday students that you would see along the roads or in the classroom. Apply this to the mental thoughts that were written during the second scene and I'm willing to bet you can figure out this chapters theme. That's right 'normality' and to that extent Touma's dealing with Espers can also be listed in the 'ordinary' category in his mind. To everyone else, dealing with Espers wanted to kick your ass isn't commonplace, but to him it is and thus the reason it still follows the overall theme of this chapter. And yes, I know I left this chapter hanging and I'm willing to bet half of you reading this are screaming at me to get on with the fight. I will, but I have a quota in terms of chapter length and these AN's are wordy enough as it is.

Oh, and don't think too much on the guy in the last scene; he's just as he seems. His name meaning can be found if you go to Denshi Jisho (websit I use for jap terms) and just type it in. You'll get a good chuckle out of it to say the least.

Now, for the question in the review before I wrap this up. To answer it, again not mentioning names, I'll say that Mugino is a high possibility but Rikou I'm not sure about. If anything, I'd rather not think about the pairing since Touma's right hand negates the 'Red String of Fate' meaning that the possibilities of who he ends up with are limitless. It could be anyone for all I know, but know that I'm not going to put Hamazura on the sidelines if I ever get that far. I like the guy too much to leave him out and let him get some lovin'. Poor guy has enough problems as it is, leaving him out would be the greatest insult to his character and I won't let that happen.

As always, leave any inquiries, thoughts, or concerns that linger in your mind in your review. Also, if there are any mistakes that present themselves to you, please inform me so that I can make the necessary adjustments. Until the next chapter, I wish you all good health and good fortune.

Goodbye for now.


	4. Conflict of Interest

Hello to all!

Wow, seriously just...wow. I'm surprised this is story is getting so popular as of late. Really, it makes me feel all warm and tingly inside...I hate that feeling but love the fans who like story. Anyway, there really isn't much **up here **that I really need to say. The word count's longer than the other two since its the whole combat scene. I tried my best to keep the paragraphs tame in terms of length, but if walls persist than I'll assist once it is addressed.

But, enough of this, enjoy chapter 4 of A Certain World of Darkness.

* * *

Academy City, from facts centered around it, was a curious place to live in as it was to hear about from safe distance. From the outside, the city was only known for only its major and most compelling facts which made nearly everyone worldwide wish to either become apart of or envious of it. The technology which was available exclusively to the city, the Espers that make up its inhabitants, the scientific breakthroughs which baffled the minds of researchers outside the walls, and the substantial funding which was provided to key research facilities to further develop all three of these major factors. It wasn't a secret that many countries, from Japan all the way to America, had all felt intimidated by the exceedingly large gap that had been established between Academy City and the rest of the world. For that reason, many countries had done their absolute best to try and catch up with the city; causing government spending to skyrocket as they amassed funds to at least find a way to improve their own technology to match up with the city of science. It was a fruitless effort really, which made it all the more insulting to those outside looking in. It never took less than a year for previous equipment, devices, and machinery to become obsolete and replaced with something significantly better.

This was a city of science, science was constantly evolving, growing, and expanding with each passing moment. Academy City may have raised the bar in terms of 'next generation' technology, but that was to be expected at this point. Trying to match this place in that sense was an impossible feat for anyone to ever hope of achieving and there was no shame in admitting that.

But within this city of science, technology, and Espers, there were other factors which made it a curious place to inhabit. For example; the matter of construction was something worth mentioning to say the least. It wasn't rare to see large buildings being either constructed or being decimated as time went by. There was limited space in Academy City, little room for meaningless construction to be made, and yet the sight of a partially constructed building was just so commonplace to people here. But that was something that could be explained quite easily really; a building that loses its value or is deemed excessive is simply demolished while someone else comes and claims the area for their own purposes. Dependent on the person who bought the property, construction wouldn't last longer than a day or two; leaving a new building in the steed of the old one. Basically, it was just a matter of how much the property value was worth and how one can profit from the property's location.

This was a rather common practice that was seen everywhere, hence why it was never commented on.

Still, Mugino Shizuri had seen much more curious and odd things in her time here in the city. Too many to questionable things occurred in both above and under the surface of this city that she couldn't ever possibly hope to recall or mention. Once upon a time, like many others new to the city, every little thing that she saw fascinated her, made her wonder, made her nosy, and made her normal. Somewhere along the line, however, such thoughts began to fade and eventually die away in a small corner somewhere. Everyone within the city was like this; the oddities that one see's are so common and so ordinary that it truly needed to be impressive for someone to give whatever it should be a second glance. The saddening fact was, this kind of mentality wasn't restricted to things displayed on the surface of the city to Mugino and the rest of ITEM. In the underground world hidden away in the darkness of this city of lights were more dangerous and jaw-dropping things that would make a commoner's jaw-drop. Yet, to her, they were as common as a microwave oven that could be found at any retail store.

So why was she so curious of the boy, this ordinary high-school student, who was standing across from her? What intrigued her so much that she was going to this extent to not only find him but also challenge him to something as pointless as a comparison between abilities? Perhaps it was the ability itself in which he possessed that interested her so much? Maybe it was the personality and the display of morality that had been noted the following evening? Hell, maybe there was a certain appeal that was present in him that had subconsciously attracted her to him? The latter of which was unlikely given the girl's taste and previous observations, but it was still well within the realm of possibility if one thought about it; though minuscule.

One thing was clear though; this conflict was definitely going to yield some rather interesting results.

Said conflict, however, wasn't taking place where the two had previously encountered one another not long ago. The chances of someone somewhere getting hurt were too high in the area for them to proceed any further. That had been the second condition which the Ordinary High-School Student had listed to the Level 5 standing across from him. If he was to accept her petty challenge, than it would be in a place where no one could get caught up in the crossfire. Said Level 5 didn't even need to ponder his words before she agreed to the condition; on the grounds that using her ability out in the open streets wasn't the best way to avoid unwanted attention. So, with the ground rules established, they moved locations to somewhere which Touma felt would be the best place to avoid everyone whilst still not being too far away from his own home. He didn't once think of using the change of location as a means to escape this pointless quarrel. He couldn't afford to given the circumstances that went beyond his control; that and the girl may as well have been holding his hand with the proximity between them as she followed him.

With all that being said, we now find those same two individuals in an area devoid of buildings and concrete; a place still out in the open but isolated enough for few to notice them. The location itself the bank of a small stream which flowed below the bridge which acted as the gateway between District 7 and District 22. The patch of land they were standing on was filled with patches of grass scattered around, more dirt and rocks than anything else really, while the slope to their immediate right was completed covered in the green plant. Why Touma had chosen this place, Mugino didn't know nor care; as far as she was concerned this place had few tactical advantages for him to exploit nor was there anything which he could use for cover; even if the latter was useless against her.

"This will do, right?" Inquired the boy, his tone still a bit too lighthearted for her tastes but still baring enough of an edge to keep her amused. "Nobody else will get involved while we're here, so long as you don't start blasting up at the taller buildings over there."

In regards to that, Mugino briefly turned her gaze away from the boy and towards the higher structures that loomed over the slope which separated this area from the road. She wouldn't need to worry about hitting them so long as the boy didn't try to use the hill as a means to avoid her attacks. That was probably the only real advantage he could exploit in this place; but something as clear as that would be futile for someone like her who used her ability at a safe distance away from her target. So long as she could keep him away from that hill then all forms of resistance would ultimately be futile.

"Yeah, this will do just fine." Responded the girl, once more resting her left hand on her hip whilst her other hand brushed away a few loose ends of hair away from her face. After performing this action, the same hand reached into her purse to fish out her cell-phone and, with a few moments of her thumb, set the timer for ten minutes as agreed. She didn't have any real reason to abide by his rules, but neither of them had been aimed to give him an advantage. She could deal with him in this time frame maybe even finish it in five minutes if she really had the desire to do so. For that reason, she went along with it and that was the only purpose behind fulfilling her end of the agreement. Shifting her attention away from the screen on her phone, she stared at back at the boy opposing her who's expression was similar to that of someone waiting for a bus or a tram to arrive. It irked her, but it also spurred her to not show him any sort of compassion or sympathy the moment she began the timer. "You ready?"

"What about your purse? It looks kinda expensive; I'd feel bad if it got messed up or something and got ruined."

"Oh, how thoughtful of you~" The tone she had used, attest to her last statement, was filled with so much artificial sugar in it that, if it had been a canned drink or something, one would get multiple cavities after the first sip. "Here's your reward for your thoughtful gesture!"

She didn't even complete her sentence before two sphere's of green energy phased into existence before sending the familiar streams of energy towards the target in front of her; her thumb having already tapped on the enter key to start the timer. Both beams soared like bullets towards the startled youth in front of her, which was quick to vanish as he pivoted his body in a manner that exposed the right portion of his body towards the blast coming from that direction. As he performed this action, his right arm rose up to meet the offending attack and, of course, stop it once it connected. The second blast that had been fired, opposed to the one he had stopped, simply soared past him and continued back behind for a few seconds before dissipating into thin-air.

"WHAT KIND OF REWARD IS THAT!?" Honestly, what was with this girl and trying to blast him every single time he tried to be nice or helpful!?

She didn't even bother to make any sort of retort to that statement. Instead, the same sphere's of green energy once more faded into existence; this time the number created had risen to three. Shortly after these sphere's formed, the beams fired in the same linear path as Touma had come to expect and thus made his move. She, of course, knew better than to send them all on the same trajectory every single time she fired. While the sphere's themselves were appeared along each of her shoulders and above her own head, that didn't necessarily mean they all traveled in only a straight line in front of her. This meant that, while the beams of energy couldn't curve away from its original course, it could fire in any direction so long as it was on an linear path. Meaning she could fire from any angle she wanted, and since the raw energy discharged could penetrate any defense, going around an object wasn't a problem since her attacks would merely melt through everything in her way.

It was arguably the most powerful pure offensive ability produced by Academy City to date.

But, even though it held unparalleled offensive capabilities, it was still an ability with flaws. For instance, once she assigned a trajectory for the energy to travel; there was no way to alter the course in which it travels. Another flaw was that, while powerful, the beams overall size and diameter would become lower in scale when firing multiple blasts at once. That was due to the fact that she had to divide the amount of power exerted in order to maintain the power-output; otherwise it could potentially backfire on her. That was what tied into the greatest drawback of her ability; the fact that it was just too powerful to control, thus she needed to hold back a majority of the time to avoid harming herself just from exerting too much energy at once.

These factors, though hindering her, had not stopped her from using her ability to its limited extent. Some wouldn't call having an ability like hers limited, but she wasn't so thoughtless or overly confident that she would deny her own faults when it concerned her own well being. If anything, having restrictions had done well for her as it only made her attacks more precise when it came down to where to attack and how to predict where her target was going.

Such was the reason why, when Touma had began moving to his left, she had already determined where to send her next attack. Two of them had purposely aimed high with only a small gap in the center, while the third had aimed quite low towards the area between his calf and shin. She had been assuming that, with the presence of two frontal attacks being aimed at him, he would neglect to put much thought on the lower one believing that it wouldn't connect; thus mixing up his priorities in terms of what to block and neglecting the less obvious threat. She had been correct to a degree, as his right hand had risen to negate the one that had obviously been closest to him; but not in the manner which she had been anticipating.

Obviously, Touma wasn't as simple-minded as most tended to believe he was. As stated before, dealing with espers was something he was used to doing on a semi-regular basis. That being said, even if he wasn't aware of it himself, his mind had already processed and determined the best course of action that would prevent him from receiving any sort of harm when dealing with the supernatural. That being said, Touma's actions to avoid this attack was to simply leap forward with his hand outstretched towards the attack closest to his person and, upon coming into contact with the stream of green energy, negate it. Almost instantly, the beam his hand had come into contact with dissipated into thin air whilst his body continued to travel before tucking in his shoulder, rolling along the ground briefly once he landed, before adjusting himself into a crouching position. As he re-evaluated his opponent's location, his right arm instinctively raised in defense as another barrage of energy was fired at him, this time the number fired being two and both being considerably wider in scale compared to the tri-barrage she had used previously.

While one of the two blasts had been effectively negated, the other blast had skimmed past his crouched, the intensity behind the attack burning away a portion of his left sleeve and causing the skin beneath it to turn an angry red color. The attack had briefly caused a flicker of pain to display on his features before it was pushed aside as he quickly made his advancement towards the girl facing him.

Judging from what he was able to take note of so far, she had to calculate the trajectory of her attacks before they fired. This was obvious with most ranged abilities he encountered in the past; obviously you couldn't hit something if you weren't looking it. There were exceptions of this little rule of course, but from what he was seeing right now she wasn't among them. The knowledge that her blasts traveled on a linear path was something that had already been determined prior to this, so he had already come to that conclusion. The problem which presented itself, however, was that getting close to her was difficult since, the shorter the distance between them, the easier it was for her attacks to hit their target. The negation factor that he held wasn't applied to the rest of his body, unfortunately, thus if she chose to shoot at his midsection as he advanced whilst simultaneously aiming for his head, he'd be screwed since he couldn't negate both at the same time.

This meant he needed to observe further and determine the time frame between each set of attacks she made. If he could find even the slightest bit of a gap in-between her attacks, he could possibly enter her guard and effectively end this whole thing by getting a hold of her. That being said, after her last attempt, Touma had already been mentally counting down the seconds between then and now; having reached three-seconds so far since his advancement.

To the woman whom was only gazing at him from her peripheral, this frontal assault mentality was like an ant heading towards sticky-tape. Not long after this thought entered her mind, two familiar spheres vaporized around her person before firing towards the incoming target. Unlike before, however, these blasts had been launched in a manner different from before. As opposed to the one's before, these two had been shot out to where one would over-lap the other, forming a cross in the area Kamijou was soon to approach. Having seen this, the boy did his absolute best to skid to a stop before he ran right into the deadly green pillars of energy; his midsection reeling backwards as he did so. He had been lucky that the rocks and dirt at his feet provided enough traction for him to keep him from both slipping up and slowing him down enough to stop him only a few inches from being cut in half from the waist. But it was a too early to feel relieved, as a third sphere that wasn't present there prior had suddenly made itself noticeable as a third blast of green light shot out directly towards his chest. Normally he would have ducked to avoid it or used his right hand to negate it, but there was a problem with either of those options. If he crouched, the beams a few inches away would come into contact with at least some part of his body as he descended and for the latter he wouldn't be able to raise his hand fast enough to counter the attack before it hit him.

Going left or right to dodge wasn't an option either, so what choice did Touma have left?

Simple, he let Newton's Law take over and allowed his body to fall straight back onto the unforgiving earth below him. Since his upper body had still been reclined slightly backwards, it had only been the support of his back leg which had been holding him up. This, however, meant that his fall to earth had not been a pleasant one since his back leg had been forced to bend in a manner which left the rest of his body's weight baring down on it as it remained bent underneath him. The additional fact that played a rather painful part in this awkward maneuver was that his heel was still sticking straight up while his toes were still pressed down on the ground below.

Over-all, it was painful as hell and he was sure something was going to be sore tomorrow; but at least he avoided the attack; having watched it fly over his head as he gazed up at the darkness of the night. He didn't have much time to enjoy the view, however, as his gaze instantly returned towards the girl as she prepped her next assault; this time arming herself with four blasts. Now Touma began to panic, realizing now that she could fire even more than just three at a time. With little time to act accordingly, he began to roll around in the dirt and grass as if he was demonstrating what to do if you were caught on fire. While incapable of seeing the attacks directly coming at him, he knew very well they were and thus continued this action for a few rotations. Had he been looking, he most likely would have soiled himself with how close he had come to certain death just then; as the thin pillars of green energy tore away at ground he had previously been located just seconds ago. Hell, two of which had barely missed him, though the effects were still felt as a great burning sensation erupted from his lower back. At the very least, however, it still wasn't a clean hit and meant that there was one less beam he had to worry about.

It had been surprising how quickly and easily the boy had sprung to his feet despite pretty much being level with the ground below him. Still, he managed to do so quickly enough to raise his arm and negate one of the freshly crafted streams of energy coming at him. That didn't stop the other two which followed after it from skimming his sides and creating more stinging pain to spread further throughout his body. By this point, Touma was a panting and sweating mess; his shirt bore multiple singes around the edges where exposed skin was located. His upper body was completely covered in dirt and grass-stains, his breath was coming in faint but still heavy pants as he tried to regain his bearings. To simplify, Kamijou was a wreck and it wasn't helping that Mugino was looking at him with a mixture of boredom and amusement.

"I expected more from you." Stated the girl out of the blue, her slightly narrowed eyes and amused smirk making it rather difficult to determine if she was either angry or pleased with how things were progressing. "Is this the best you can do? You made it seem like dealing with Espers are so easy that I overestimated you."

Still panting, Kamijou took this moment to try and find the means to best approach the girl; and so far coming up with nothing. He had been wrong in his assumption that the stagger-time between her attacks being within the range of his abilities to get through. It was, but with the amount of fire-power she had at her disposal made doing so dangerous as hell. Not only that, but from what he saw she could either delay or even prepare another blast at any point in time should she need to. Adding to the fact that he wasn't aware if she had a limit to the number of beams she could fire left him with few options to utilize in this situation. What he was able to determine was that she had to be looking at him in order for her to exploit her ability; having to plot a trajectory for her attacks made actually seeing the target necessary after all. But aside from that, there was little else he could use to really exploit that weakness, with few exceptions being what he had listed off in his mind already and the knowledge that her attacks traveled in a straight line.

If he could just get close to her, then he could put an end to this entire thing pretty damn quickly and go home.

The problem was that just getting close to her was a task in itself.

"Well?" Continued the girl as smirk on her face became noticeably more pronounced than it had been before. "Is this really all you've got to show for? Come on, at least let me enjoy this more after taking all the time and effort to find you!"

He didn't have any more time to think as three more beams of light burst from around her person and towards him once again. Having no strategy, no direct weakness which he could exploit to the fullest, Touma simply chose a more reckless method than what he normally would in the face of something as threatening as this. Instead of putting focus on negating the attacks, he chose to do his best to weave between them whilst approaching her head on once again. The three attacks that had been made just now were quick to fade away, only to be replaced with three more in different angles. Still, Touma remained persistent and only negated whatever direct attack was heading in his direction. That didn't imply that his advancement forward had been at a quick pace, rather it was more cautious opposed to before when he rushed in blindly. Each step, each time he maneuvered around a blast speeding towards him, the gap between Mugino and Touma gradually became less and less. It was done in a sluggish pace, not something that could be done without caution as he had learned from before.

To Mugino, who was witnessing all of this with the same expression of mixed boredom and amusement, could only watch on as this boy steadily grew closer. Such a sight was what she had been waiting for honestly, finally witnessing the same determination and courage which had been present in his gaze not long ago. She wasn't one to have high expectations of others and her opponent now was no exception to that in the slightest. She knew from the beginning that she would inevitably dominate him in this situation, but she still held onto the sliver of hope that he would prove her wrong. Why? It was for the satisfaction that came with beating someone who truly gave it their all only to eventually realize they had no chance from the very beginning. With each streak of energy she discharged, the more she saw the courageousness this teen held.

Safe to say that Mugino was, finally, getting the enjoyment she desperately wanted to gain during this conflict.

But, in exchange for receiving her enjoyment, she also became increasingly aware of another factor which she hadn't taken into account. Bold and foolish as it was, Touma's approach became less about dodging her attacks and more about negating whatever entered his path. It had been a conclusion which Touma had came to be aware of as he moved forward, and that same factor was making it much easier to move once he was within a certain proximity. While the preparation time between blasts was short, it was still present enough for him to exploit. That had been the major reason in the beginning as to why he had focused on dodging and evading the beams of energy opposed to just negating them all. But, when at a close enough distance, it became less about creating an opening for him to move through and continue unhindered and more about just negating them altogether Adding to this was that, the closer her got and the closer the beams were located, the easier it was to negate all of them since he was much closer towards the base in which the attacks were coming from.

Basically, it was similar to how people can determine where a bullet from a gun is going to go through observation of the gun barrel's movement and the timing the fire-rate after each shot. Sure, there was a high possibility of getting shot in the process, but it was still possible to determine where you're going to hit opposed to not knowing. Such knowledge is useless if your still got hit anyway, sure, but if you had a thick enough materiel to block it then at least you could brace yourself for the impact. Though, that analogy wasn't best suited for this situation; as the 'bullets' in this situation were instead lasers and the 'barrel' is replaced with the very base of the beams originating from the spheres around Mugino.

That was why he had been so cautious in his approach, why he wasn't rushing in as boldly as before and why he had only now been more reliant in using his right hand opposed to just dodging attacks. Because the closer he got, the easier it was to predict where the attacks were headed. Additionally, should one of those streams of energy be too close together with another, than he could negate both of them at once and merely avoid the remaining ones. Overall it was a reckless, yet effective, tactic; one he more than likely wouldn't like to ever implement again if he could help it. These beams were too fucking dangerous to be dealing with, as even the slightest misstep or mistimed move would be the end of him.

But it seemed that there was another miscalculation that had been made over the course of this conflict. As he had avoided the incoming barrage of energy once more, Touma come to realize that his opponent, the girl whom had still kept her identity from him, was rapidly approaching him. The sight of her actually running towards him with no spheres of energy hovering around her had succeeded in astounding the teen to an extent. If memory serves, Espers with a ranged ability typically didn't try to get close to the target. They maintained distance between themselves and the person against them and rarely got close unless they were assured the opposition could do nothing against them. Mugino, however, was not maintaining her distance any longer; leaving him to believe that, if she had, than she would have been a sitting duck. Contrary to popular belief, though, Mugino wasn't your typical Esper in the sense that she didn't attack her foes at close range.

She had enough experience under her belt to know when and where to strike someone. There had been a reason to her continued barrage before; and that was to wear the teen down enough to where she could get close enough and beat him senseless herself. That wasn't to say that she was just going to run straight at him without any sort of plan. With that, a single sphere of energy emerged beside her and fired towards her target as she moved, which prompted the boy to raise his right arm and negate the blast head on. In doing that, however, he had left himself open as the tip of her boot dug itself deeply into his abdomen. Thanks to her minor distraction, this unexpected attack had caused the boy's body to coil up a bit from the jab which had temporarily robbed him of his precious air supply.

As the boy's head lurched forward, she took that opportunity to quickly retract her leg whilst bringing her hand up to grasp at his neck. Using her own momentum, she had easily been able to slam the boy's body back onto the ground with enough force to possibly give the teen a slight concussion due to the being choke-slammed into the dirt. The fact that he was already winded from her preemptive strike and the tight grip she had on his throat made receiving any air at this point very difficult. Mugino's fingernails digging into this neck weren't helping much in dealing with the pain that was flowing through his body at this point either. Out of instinct, though, Touma's hand's rose to try and pry himself free from the girl's grip, only to meet with resistance along the way. As things currently stood, she was on the ground with him, her legs bent over his left arm and putting all her weight down on that area whilst her free hand was pinning down his right at the wrist.

At this point, it really didn't need to be said that Mugino's expression continued to display the malicious intent that was less fitting of someone of her appearance. It was a look he was sure didn't belong on such a face, but the fact of the matter was it was present there. She was still smirking triumphantly down at him, her eye-lids still narrowed, but the look in those lightly-brown shaded spheres was something he hadn't been able to see until now. They were void of any real thoughts, no clear emotion was displayed on the forefront of her mind as she stared down at him. It wasn't something he could just classify as being bored or angry; it was a look of someone who was devoid of any sort of compassion or sympathy.

A look of someone who had did not care at all for life of others.

"Well, you were a disappointment." Mumbled the girl as she increased the pressure applied to his throat, her gaze never once leaving his own even for a second. "Guess this was all just a waste of time after-all. Oh well, at least now there's one less pest in the world."

As those words flowed through her lips, a familiar green sphere surfaced over his head; causing him to squint as the brightness that it created blurred his vision. His options were practically non-existent at this point; his arms were pinned, his body was aching all over, and his consciousness was waning due to lack of air. Even still, the options were scarce, but they were still there for him to use now that she was up close to him. While it was true that his arms had been successfully pinned down, his legs were still capable of doing something.

Which was precisely the reason why, for the first time in this entire fight, Mugino's expression changed to one of pain as she felt the boy's right knee connect to the small of her back and hitting the precise spot of her spinal cord in that area. It wasn't all that painful really, just surprising enough to allow her the strength of her free hand to lessen briefly. That concise moment of lost strength was all Touma needed to slip his hand free from her grasp and quickly grasp her own wrist in response; effectively causing the sphere of energy above him to vanish before the attack could follow through. With that same right hand of his and using what little remained of his strength at this time, Touma took another gamble and tugged her down as hard as he could.

Effective immediately, Mugino lost her center of balance she had and thus fell horizontally onto Touma's torso, providing the lad with enough time to remove his left arm out from under her legs and use that same arm to harshly pull the girl's hand away from his neck. As he took that moment to finally grasp for air, he hastily brought the same left hand back onto the ground and used it, along with his legs, to hoist his body up off the ground. Shortly after this action was accomplished, he twisted his entire body to where he would roll out from beneath her form, having long since released his grip on her wrist with his right hand. However, once he was out from under her, he didn't try to get distance away from her and instead re-adjusted himself and practically tackled her to the ground as she too hastily tried to return to her feet and try to attack him once again.

This time it had been Mugino who was left winded as the boy's shoulder slammed into her and sent both of them back onto the ground. With the situation now reversed and Touma on top of her, she had no means of getting him off her. For as soon as the two of them collided with the ground, his hands had already acted on his thoughts and reached out to gain a firm hold on her wrists. Once he had both of her hands secured in a vice, he raised both of them over her head; leaving her pinned underneath his body while his shadow loomed over her entire frame. Though neither party knew it then, but the current position that they had found themselves in was a rather…intimate looking that would normally leave the two rather embarrassed about being in due to how intimate it appeared.

Between the two of them, however, Touma appeared the most fatigued. Mugino was winded, sure, but he had been trying to recover his breath during the entire course of this moment; thus why he was still a panting wreck while Mugino appeared to have no problems at all. However, from the look on her face and the intensity in which she was struggling to break out of his grasp, it was easy to misinterpret the situation. Her face was flushed, but not for the reasons one would normally suspect. Her face was red out of anger, not out of embarrassment, for no matter how hard she concentrated on her ability; nothing appeared. She wasn't weak in the physical sense, but in comparison to Touma's weight bearing down on her combined with his own strength meant that getting out wasn't going to happen unless he let her. She had gotten too confident in herself and had didn't put into account that the boy's stamina and endurance far surpassed what she typically saw on a normal basis.

That had been her downfall, that had been what had gotten her stuck like this; but at the same time it meant that neither party could really do much. Touma, despite the obvious fact that this girl was basically trying to kill him, felt no real desire to do anything to physically harm her now that she was detained. With her abilities temporarily locked away by the right hand pinning her arm down, she could do next to nothing to harm him with. He could still beat her senseless right now with his left arm, but he wasn't the type of person to utilize such brutally on someone who was powerless to defend themselves. Besides, if he were to release her arm to attack; who knew what she would do to try and change the situation into her favor once more?

And so, Kamijou Touma decided that this was more than enough to put an end to their little conflict; even if the girl below him didn't quite feel the same way about it.

"GET THE FUCK OFF ME YOU COWARDLY LITTLE SHIT!" Yeah, she was pissed alright.

"You lost as soon as you got close to me, just accept it." Groaned out Touma, wincing slightly at the level of volume she was using to get her point across. "Keeping your distance would have been a better choice for you in the end; I'd have never gotten to you at the rate I was going."

"SHUT THE HELL UP! JUST SHUT THE HELL UP AND GET OFF ME YOU DAMN PISS-STAIN!"

Why couldn't she use her powers!? Why was she stuck under this brainless weakling who was obviously inferior to her!? Yes, it was a dumb move on her part to get close to the target, but again she didn't think he would still have enough strength after spending so long under direct fire of her attacks. Most people struggled enough just avoiding them, and they weren't even nearly as successful as this guy was. So why was it that he still had strength left to put her down like this? Why couldn't she summon the strength to peel him off her?

Some of those answers would remain unanswered, some she would come to realize later on down the road. One such answer had become clear once she recalled precisely how he had survived this entire time; causing her to struggle twice as hard to remove her hand being held down by his right hand. That same right hand had been negating her attacks this entire time; but she had simply assumed that it negated only the external forces. Apparently the negation factor applied to internal forces as well, meaning it didn't just stop her attacks from hitting him but could also stop her from forming them entirely. Perhaps that was why he was so determined to get up close to her rather than constantly defend. But how could an ability like this have existed and yet remain so unknown to her? Why wasn't something like this being examined further; why was it so far under the radar? A possibility behind that was probably due to how the boy didn't particularly like using it, or certain VIPs in Academy City chose to deny its existence; but that was knowledge Mugino was privy to knowing.

"Are you done yet?" Asked the boy who, to further add insult to injury, sounded rather uninterested and exasperated with the current development. "Or are you gonna scream at me some more?"

"Fuck off!"

"What are you so angry for this time? You won this stupid challenge anyways."

"You call this a victory!? How the hell did yo–"

"Listen!"

Intense silence followed for only a few moments before a low hum and rattling was heard between the two of them. A mere jerk of his head was all that had been needed for her to divert her attention towards her purse, which had slipped off her shoulders at some point during their struggle. She knew what it was, and it was the alarm on her phone which was rattling up against most of her bag's contents. She obviously hadn't heard it, having been paying too much attention to the boy above her than to the mobile device. After making his point, Touma figured now would be the best time to try and quell her anger at least to a point where she wouldn't blast him the moment he released her.

"I heard it once you got close enough to me." He wasn't making this up; he really had heard it yet had been, literally, breathless and unable to inform her of that little fact. Even if he had, though, he severely doubted she would have stopped anyways; which was why he was detaining her so that she could hear it herself. "So, technically, you won since I wasn't able to hit you until after the alarm went off."

"Does it _**look**_ like I give a shit!?" Responded the girl, her expression still clearly livid while her efforts to release herself from the boy's grasp persisted.

"Well, um, yeah; it does."

She ceased her resistance long enough to level the boy with a glare as deadly as her ability; the intensity put behind it possibly being capable of matching or even out-doing her own Meltdowner if she continued long enough. She couldn't help but find his bluntness infuriating to the highest degree, even if it was true to an extent. Of course she wanted to win; what person did anything with the incentive to achieve success in this world? Nobody ever did anything with the intent to fail on purpose; there wasn't a single person she knew of out there in the world that did not at least try to triumph. Even the weakest at least tried despite knowing that they wouldn't succeed, which possibly the only thing she could really give such people credit for. Anything less than that was something she would not accept, she refused to acknowledge it and do whatever it took to redeem that failure and achieve the results she desired. Those brave enough to admit it would say she was obsessive, a perfectionist who took things too far out of proportion over matters which people would considered petty or trivial. Mugino herself was aware that such a side of her existed, she couldn't afford to be ignorant about it really. But, at the same time, it was through that side of her which had yielded such great success in the underworld of Academy City, what made ITEM so reliable, and why they were a valuable asset to someone up at the top of the ladder.

Kamijou Touma, however, wasn't someone who really cared about winning or losing; at least from her perspective. Her assessment of him was still firmly in its place as someone who was easy to notice yet still just as easy to lose track of. The way he carried himself, his appearance, his state of dress; all of these things screamed 'commoner' and 'ordinary' which would have had him written off as yet another pointless existence in the world. Except that wasn't the case, he hadn't been written off, and his normality wasn't what had driven her to find him tonight. His right arm was what called her, what interested her, what made her ponder, what made her plot, what made anxious, and what led to this pitiful conclusion of their duel. The Meltdowner had every intention to win, had every intention of ripping the look he still had in those eyes of his from him and make him realize just how small he was in the world of giants. That was what she wanted, that was what she fully intended to do, and yet she had been incapable of doing so and all this guy could do was half-assly try and say that she had succeeded? The duel didn't matter, the victory was an empty one, and this pest still had that same look in his eyes that _**still **_sent chills down her spine as he peered down at her.

Honestly thought, the thing which annoyed her most was the fact that he was taking all of this in stride. It really appeared as though dealing with situations like these was something so normal, so ordinary, that he had grown accustomed to it to the extent that, even when faced with an obvious threat, it was like an inconvenience to him rather than a matter of life or death. He was calm, yet bored. He was determined, but lethargic. He was confident, but hesitant. All of these traits, all of which she had witnessed firsthand, were things that both puzzled and infuriated all the same. Did he really not view her as a threat to his life or did he simply not care? She didn't know the answer to her own musings, but really wasn't given much time to ponder further before the teen in question spoke up once more.

"If I let you go, can I leave without getting shot in the back this time?" Again, the way he spoke made this whole thing seem like nothing more than a giant hassle that he would rather not deal with. Given, that was precisely how he felt in regards to their little scuffle, but she wouldn't have been too pleased if she found that out right now.

In that moment, Mugino allowed herself the decency to turn away as she deliberated on his inquiry. She could do just that, wait for his back to be turned and kill him when he wasn't looking. It had failed once before in the alleyway though, so the chances of that succeeding were even slimmer now that she didn't have the element of surprise. She could still persist in performing her previous actions and just not repeat the same mistake of getting close to him. He obviously wasn't your typical everyday student in regards to physical combat; but she wasn't precisely the most adept in that criteria herself either. Still, she could block off his escape routes before he could get a good running start. At least then she wouldn't have to chase him all throughout the night in the streets.

But, again, her interest in Kamijou Touma dictated that letting him live wouldn't be a bad option either. Let it not be said that it was fear of Anti-Skill or Judgment coming after her which dictated this thought. She was pretty much immune to the law once darkness fell. There were no witnesses here, no security; and even if there were a few tugs on some strings could easily have the whole thing swept under the rug like it had never happened. Losing a promising ability like his aside, nobody would miss a normal high-school student for very long. However, what had dictated that sort of thought wasn't as much of the ability displayed as opposed to the person who had it that was steadily caught her attention. His ability still played a much larger role in his significance, but now she grew more intrigued in the boy who had it in his possession rather than just the ability itself like before.

"..." After several moments of careful thought, the girl merely clicked her tongue before turning her attention back onto the boy who was still gazing down at her in wait of a response. "Fine."

"Good," Responded the teen, the relief in his tone and the slumping of his shoulders acting as clear enough indicator that he was happy for this whole thing to finally be over. "I was starting to think you wanted to continue."

"Don't say that when you practically have me in a missionary position."

"Eh?" Having just heard this, the boy re-evaluated his current placement over-top of the girl to find that was indeed how it appeared. After coming to this realization, the teen reacted in the typical manner of someone with at least some sense of modesty; his face flaring up and a rather hasty retreat off and away from her person. It would have been amusing if she wasn't so pissed off at him for them being stuck in that awkward position for so long. "S-sorry, I didn't mean-"

"Just shut up at leave before I change my mind." Grumbled the girl; though she was oddly calm about the whole thing, unlike the boy in question who was now across from her on the ground. Hell, she didn't even look embarrassed about it; thought that arguably due to her irritation being the most dominant emotion at the present time.

"Y-yeah, I'll go ahead and…do that."

She didn't even watch him as he departed from the scene after retrieving his bag of supplies he had been forced to take with him since he wasn't willing to allow Mugino to find his home. As it was, she was busy dusting herself off from all collection of dirt which had found itself on her attire. Of course, clothing was easily replaceable and just as disposable to her considering her own bit of wealth. Still, it wouldn't do for someone like her to be seen with debris covering her from head to toe. Once the task was completed and she had collected her purse off the ground, she rummaged through her assortment of items inside before removing the still vibrating phone from the bag. After silencing the alarm, however, she noticed on the display that there had been a missed call from someone; most likely someone from ITEM. Flipping the phone open, she did the standard procedure for missed calls and located the source number. Her assumption had been correct, as the missed call had come from Frenda's phone not three minutes ago…

Three minutes couldn't have passed during the time frame in which she and Touma had fought for dominance on the ground. Time flies, sure, but that little scuffle couldn't have passed that quickly. So, keeping this in mind, she recalled what the boy had told her in regards to him hearing the alarm on her phone going off prior to her approaching him at close range. Recalling that, along with the time she had started the timer, she reviewed that knowledge with the current time. The clock on her phone told her that it was eight forty-eight, and the time they had started was eight thirty-six; meaning Frend's call had been at eight eight forty-five. If Touma had indeed heard something, then it wasn't the alarm which he had heard; rather it was the sound of her phone receiving the call…and what that meant was…that…

"You son of a..."

...in that one minute of struggle, Touma had won their little duel.

"BITCH!"

In the end, Fate still found a way to create misfortune for poor Kamijou.

* * *

Alright, this chapter is done and, if your here right now, then that means you were able to make it through this fight. Good to see that you at least read through it all, even if the fight was kind of repetitive.

Now, I want to make something clear while your here now to explain this fight. From what most of you can take note of, this isn't a fight that was strongly one-sided on Touma's part and, for that, you must understand certain things. This isn't Mikoto, the Level 5 Touma was fighting an this time around does have the intention to kill him. That means its not a fight he can win easily, especially since Mugino's Meltdowner is the strongest ranged ability out there in terms of power. Touma is normal, and I'm stressing that factor here to an extent. That means, unless he's close to her, she has the upper hand against him; even if he can negate her power with the Imagine Breaker. At that same time, however, Mugino isn't someone who's afraid of getting her hands dirty, she can and has beaten the crap out of people without having to use her ability. You don't believe me then go review the Railgun manga and see for yourself or review back to her first fight with Hamazura. It's not her forte, I'm sure, but she's far from helpless without her ability to a degree.

And I know the ending was a little cliche, I know it so don't mention that little factor to me. But Mugino is arrogant, she too can make mistakes that can later come to bite her in the ass. She underestimated Hamazura in their previously mentioned fight above, and that cost her an eye and an arm. Touma's not that different from our Skill-Out friend over here; the only huge difference in terms of combat ability being his IB. Add to it the assumption that his ability only worked on outside forces written in the scene; you can rightfully assume that Mugino would have gotten a bit cocky with herself and just came to the wrong conclusion; which she paid for.

I'll understand if this fight is less than appealing to some of you guys out there, I'm a critic to my own work and I'm not largely happy with how this turned out, but I never once said this would be the last conflict we see between these two. There may be another, may be multiple times they clash, who knows? All I do know is that the difference between now and then is circumstance and is for this reason that I've decided to get there fight done now so you, _**yes, you the reviewers**_, can tell me what it is I can do to make this fight better in the future.

No real theme this time around unless you count "I'ma firin' ma-bwaaah!" as a theme...and don't take that too strongly to heart.

Phew, with that done, please do as usual in terms of reviews. If there are any inquiries, thoughts, or concerns that arise in your mind, feel free to address them to me and I'll do what I can to answer them. Otherwise, I hope you enjoyed my little piece of work.

Goodbye for now.


	5. A Time of Uncertainty

Greetings to all!

Well, from the amount of responses I received from last chapter, I guess its safe to assume that my action scenes are at least entertaining to read. Glad to note I don't completely suck ass at it, so to everyone who gave me that feed-back thanks. As for people who continue to talk about how wordy I am with this story...well, I'm sorry but I'm still trying to work on that. Anyways, I'm sorry this took so long to bring out, which I'll explain below, and so I won't keep you waiting any longer. Please enjoy chapter 5 of A Certain World of Darkness.

* * *

Ordinarily, life in Academy City was rather simplistic to those who lived as your average, everyday, student there. You would wake up, perform your morning rituals, dress accordingly, then proceed to school. After that event was completed, it either provided time to slack off and enjoy one's self with company or proceed home for more important and self-imposed tasks laid out before them until evening. Those things were ordinary, things that normal individuals typically did in this city. Sure, some of the older students could drink, you had your batch of thugs lingering around in broad daylight, and unusual events which would occasionally either make or break a person's day. Those matters, however, were still largely considered 'normal' in a city such as this; it was hard for those events not to be when one puts into account that human's with supernatural abilities were as common-place as an animal at a zoo.

Such was the uneventful beginning of A Certain High-School Students day as he sat his desk at school, though largely uninterested in his teacher's lecture. While he knew he should have been listening to the adult speaking, his mind just couldn't stay focused on the current events taking place and instead more so on his own musings. It wasn't that the topic was disinteresting, though it admittedly was from his standpoint, it was just that the subject wasn't something he could actually benefit from. Geography was his strong-point really, practical physics being another one he was good in if we were to count, but that wasn't the subject of the teacher's lecture. Said teacher was explaining the finer technicalities of AIM Dispersion Field Resonance, basically explaining that Espers that share the same AIM field as another person or multiple persons can single out who had the same ability as them. That was the short version of it, from what little he had gathered while he was paying attention; this particular teacher just liked to ramble on in her lessons at times.

Some people would say it was wrong to be so disinterested in a subject as critical as this since it was basically a part of life here in the City. Those people may have been justified to think that but, in the end, the phenomenon which allowed other's to access these powers were of no huge importance to Kamijou. He had his own reasons why he hardly paid attention to his lessons here, and that was because of his right hand which negated and nullified all supernatural abilities just from making contact with it. The teacher in front of him tried to explain once when he asked regarding the limb, only to get a rather lame response from her saying that she herself didn't know exactly how it worked. She came up with a theory behind it, but a theory wasn't precisely the thing he was looking for in terms of an answer. A theory was just a scientific term for saying 'I guess this happens' and that wasn't what he wanted. It didn't bother him that his teacher couldn't understand how his arm worked either, as she wasn't the first person he had asked and most certainly wouldn't be the last.

Still, he had made sure not to make her depressed from being incapable of helping him figure out his ability; but somewhere in his mind he believed she still felt miserable for not being of any assistance.

It was possibly the reason she did her best to help him whenever his grades were slipping; that or she was just that dedicated to teaching. Touma wasn't sure which, but it was possible that it was a mixture of those two things together. That didn't mean she treated him any different than the rest of the class…scratch that, it was more like it didn't distract her from trying to play favorites. If he was struggling or failing something, she would subjected him to the supplementary lessons to get his grades back up to speed or sometimes even punish him by forcing him to play poker with a blindfold and try to win ten games in a row. All he got in exchange was the sympathy from the female portion of his class and the envy of the male portion for reasons he didn't know of.

Lolicons, the lot of them.

But I'm getting off point.

The fact of the matter was that something else was eating away at his mind during the course of his teacher's lecture that caused him to zone out. It had nothing to do about his odd ability, nor did it have to do with any unfortunate events that had taken place on his way to school today. The former he had, for the most part, was something he just took at face value and decided to stop trying to understand for the time being. The latter of which, oddly enough, didn't happen yet today. There were no obstructions on his way here, no trouble which usually found its way to interfere with his daily life, he didn't even arrive to school just as the last bell was about to ring. Nothing usual or unfortunate happened to him today; something which had put him on edge a bit before the lecture had begun. With tension of being blindsided by misfortune gone, his mind began to wonder about as the teacher's lecture dragged on. The subject that had been persistent in his mind, at this moment, had been the events that had taken place just last night with that strange girl who appeared out of the blue to challenge him.

Many questions entered the forefront of his thoughts as he recalled the events that had transpired the night before; many of which he didn't have an answer to yet. How did she find him? Why was she in a dark alleyway waiting for him to show up? Was that really her intention at all; to wait for him to appear and just attack him for no damn reason at all? If that wasn't the case, what other reason would she have to be waiting there at all? Was she a stalker or something, how much about him did she know? Hell, who was she? The only real information that was even creditable was her reason for behind her search; and even he doubted that her intentions were completely legitimate. She had said she wanted a challenge, something about an urban legend that was centered around his hand, and wanted to see which of their abilities was stronger. Her reasoning behind such an aggressive assault that he had been exposed to didn't really match up in his mind. It was too trivial a reason for someone to go as far as she had to beat him.

There was some underlining reason behind last night's occurrence, he was sure of that much. But that was just another thing that Touma had no direct means of answering. Well, it was more along the lines of not really caring to find an answer, as he doubted she would just show up again and demand another duel anytime soon. Touma's face, upon making that particular mental statement, had briefly shifted into a look of dread as his form slouched further down into his seat.

On second thought, maybe it would be best if he didn't think like that; less misfortune decides to shatter his delusions and make it possible.

But there were at least a few things he had been partially resolved in terms of personal inquiry. The urban legend which was centered around him specifically was something that did have some truth to it; so at least he knew that part wasn't made up. After he had gotten last night, and applying some ointment to the minor burns on his skin, he half-heartedly used his phone to search internet and came to discover that there was in fact a legend centered around his ability. Though there was no information that confirmed the identity of the person who had it, it still claimed it was a man and that it nullified all supernatural abilities. That had been it, nothing overly extravagant and nothing that outright said it was him who possessed it. While there was a possibility that someone somewhere had identified him, Touma had neglected to look any deeper into it, due mainly in part to having confirmed what he had originally intended to learn.

That had answered the question of the urban legend, regarding the authenticity of the girl's claim regarding how she knew about his ability. It still didn't explain why she was so fierce in their petty squabble nor how she found him. A probability in terms of the scuffle was that she didn't feel the need to restrain herself since she believed he could negate any of her attacks if he so desired. While true to an extent, it didn't provide a full explanation as to why she had gone as far as she had; the conclusion he had come to not meshing well with the picture the girl had pained for herself as they fought. That fight wasn't the typical overconfident Esper who's idea of having some fun was to pick on someone normal like him. The way she had used her ability, contrast to most of the usual brash folk who gained something from the Power Development Curriculum that he ran into, was different in comparison to what he usually encountered.

Usually, to people with abilities that were similar to hers, they would have just fired at random with no tactical mindset at all. That same group of overly confident Espers who saw first-hand what his right arm did would become quick to lose that sense of superiority and act in a less than rational mindset; which he would then exploit. That was how it normally played out; sometimes it took longer for someone to lose their cool but they all eventually did long before he got close to them. That girl, though, was different in some respects. She had remained completely calm almost the entire time, not once breaking stride and effectively working out a means to keep him away from her and whittling him down bit-by-bit with her consistent attacks. Had she not gotten close to him he would have most likely lost to her, though winning or losing mattered little in his mind.

The point here was that, underestimation aside, she had executed all of her attacks in a manner he wasn't privy to seeing often. She had acutely determined how to attack him, how to keep him from rapidly advancing, and had worked to exhaust him so that she could close the gap herself and land the decisive blow without worry of it being avoided or negated. Tactics like that don't come from someone who just wants to determine the strength their own ability; that comes from someone who has utilized it to a degree beyond common practice. That was something that came from a person who knew precisely how to apply their abilities effectively in combat, even against someone like him who could negate them all together.

But it went further than that; much further than just someone who knew exactly what they were doing.

It was the look on her face as she did all of these things; a look he really wasn't familiar with and should have ever been exposed to. The look of maliciousness in her eyes, the way she watched as she nearly killed him countless times, and her whole demeanor screamed of someone who didn't care whether or not he survived the onslaught in one piece. In the cases where he fought against other Espers, not a lot admittedly but enough to not be too afraid and capable of handling them, they never purposely tried to cause any excessive harm that could potentially kill him. They were still students, all of them were, and getting charged for murder was not the best way to go about your life in this city. None wanted to risk that, so they held back to an extent until it became clear that doing so wouldn't make a difference against his right hand. By then it would already be too late and he'd have beaten them or they would have retreated. But that girl, whom he assumed was just another overconfident Esper, had been blatantly trying to murder him in cold blood and for a reason so incomprehensible that it was stupid.

So once again, what was it that was driving her to go to such a degree over something as trivial as a duel?

It also begged the question in Touma's mind as to why someone like her was so adept at using her ability to the degree she displayed.

That was one question Kamijou wasn't sure he wanted to find an answer to.

"Kamijou!"

The sudden and rather childish sounding tone was what succeeded in breaking the boy off from his previous train of thought. Having his name called, he gaze a slight start as his eyes refocused back on the front of the classroom; where his preschool looking teacher stood and looking dejectedly at him for spacing out. Said teacher, Tsukuyomi Komoe, was currently clutching a stack of papers that were in her tiny hands as she continued to stare at the spiky haired boy from the front of the class; her bottom lip trembling a bit and sightings of tears on the edge of her eyes becoming apparent.

Touma must have been thinking too deeply on a matter that, by all accounts, shouldn't even matter anymore. It also must have shown since Komoe was obviously displeased with having her lesson being drowned out by the boy due to his own musings. To put it bluntly, it hurt her feelings to have a student miss an opportunity to learn from her when she was trying her best to help them succeed and gain knowledge. The class as a whole, or mainly the male portion of it, weren't so inclined to feel sympathy towards Touma for instances like these. While it was true that Komoe was an adult, but her appearance and extreme level of dejection was more than enough to trigger the impulsive side of them to surface and glare at the teen. One couldn't blame them really, who wouldn't get pissed at seeing someone who looks like a child crying; especially when the person responsible was sitting amongst them.

"Kami-yan, why did you have to make sensei cry?"

Inquired Tsuchimikado Motoharu teasingly from the seat one a row and up one from him. His eyes obscured by the blue sunglasses that were ever present over his them, but the leer on his face told the story well enough that he was amused.

"You're the worst, Kami-yan."

Stated another boy named Aogami Pierce, who was two seats directly in front of Touma. This one had to actually turn around to 'look' at him, even though his eyes were closed as always. Unlike Tsuchimikado, he looked rather displeased with the boy behind him for making their adorable teacher break out into tears.

Sadly, these two were his closest friends that he had and actually hung out with on his days off or during free-time. Both of them and himself had the poorest grades in the class; earning them the honorable title of 'the three idiots of the class' or in some cases even 'the delta force'. Nothing about that title was admirable, but the little squabbles they often got into and their sometimes over-the-top shenanigans were things that admittedly made them somewhat popular. Not largely and not everyone viewed them in a good light, but it was their reckless high jinks and the outrageous stupidity which provided some humor for the class to enjoy. It was, after-all, normal for there to be at least a few misfits in every classroom; this one was just lucky enough to have three of them together in one class.

Right now though, Touma was determined to try and sink as low as he could in his seat to avoid the stares of ill intent coming from his fellow classmates.

It wasn't working.

"Fukou-da."

* * *

It can be easily said that, to certain people, even the most minor deviations can be viewed as a massive nuisance. The larger the difference, the larger the impact it has on a person's patience until they inevitably break. Some diversity can be seen as tolerable depending on both how large the variation is and how high the person's forbearance allowed. That, however, also depended on what precisely was changed and exactly how it could affect that person in particular. For everything that changes, adjustments were necessary to accommodate those changes either before or after the alteration had taken place. People could adjust to many things, but if a massive enough modification occurred in their lives than one can expect to be met with resistance. Change isn't something that can be imposed on the populace too quickly, it must be gradual and in a manner subtle enough to allow those whose lives it effects to adjust and eventually accept.

But some things just couldn't be deemed acceptable, some matters would never be adaptable, and some things don't need to be altered from what they originally were.

Just the same, however, certain things could be acceptable, adaptable, and did require some alternation once the original state was deemed obsolete. If something turned out to be insufficient, the logical course of action would be to replace it with something better or improved whatever was previously deemed inadequate. That was basically the foundation of this entire city which was based on science. Anything could be replaced or improved; in fact people paid no small sum of money to try and create or improve something that can be of benefit. From state of the art jets that could travel at super-sonic speeds, down all the way to body conditioning devices that improved a person's physic in days; nothing was really out of the question. If it provided something that could be perceived as useful or within the realm of possibility, than it was sure to be capable of being produced or enhanced further. That didn't imply that any of these creations or improves would be perfect, even the Power Development Curriculum was flawed, but that also didn't mean that the one's responsible for those matters to not at pursue that very achievement.

Mugino Shizuri, in physical appearance, seemed to be one of those individuals who sought perfection and actually succeeded in achieving it. It was in much more different sense than those previously listed; she wasn't a person who existed to create or improve the things around her. She was a destroyer, her Meltdowner dictated that much due to its nature, and thus was not something which she was capable of doing. No, what she had succeeded in perfecting lay in a social sense rather than a scientific one. What she had perfected was pretty basic; something frequently perceived as vital enough to ruin one's image should that portrayal of perfection be lost. What Mugino had perfected was just that: public image. Her looks, what she wore, how she walked, the way she spoke, her grades. All of these things and many more played a part in the overall image that she was meant to portray, the proper girl who was both popular and untouchable amongst her own peers.

A reputation such as that, however, had its own negative aspects to it that made school-life a rather stressful environment to be in at times.

Such as now, given her current state of agitation for the events that followed the previous night. You wouldn't be capable of seeing it on the surface, demonstrating just how marvelous her facade was when in a public environment. Here, when placed in the limelight, she was the ever calm, capable, beauty that exhibited an aura of regality which simply could not be touched or tampered with, not in the manner in which made her seem fragile but instead in a sense of unworthiness. It was the 'cool' beauty that she portrayed, and she did it so flawlessly that it would leave anyone who saw her currently to doubt she was really someone to be feared in the darker parts of this city. This outwards display of a composed, confident, and intelligent beauty was built for this purpose and this alone; otherwise she would have no use for such a disgusting display of courtesy which she disapproved so highly of.

These people that surrounded her, her peers who were ignorant of the world she was from, all but nauseated her with their pathetic existence.

And today just happened to be a day where tolerating such weakness and ignorance was far more difficult to do with a straight face; more so than usual.

This was due to the fact that Mugino's mentality was in such a state of agitation that it was a task in itself to conceal both her agitation and the annoyance of being in the presence of the vast ignorant-folk in her classroom. Of course, this certainly wasn't the first time she had been forced to attend classes while in a less than suitable mood. Not every job ITEM took part in turned out successful; the group itself was bound to stumble every now and then. Did it agitate her still? Of course it did, she was the group's leader and it was terrible for business when fuck-ups like that occur. She could accept those things, however, because there were ways to redeem that previous failure, ways to amend them and ultimately create at least some form of satisfactory which would benefit ITEM as a whole. The fact still remained that, during those moments in time where success was not achieved, she would remain state of irritation until a solution was found.

But the matter which instigated such aggressive inner-turmoil was one that had nothing to do with ITEM, nothing with the dark side of the city, or anything that was usually associated with her. What had been the driving force behind her frustration was a single teenage boy who had become the latest subject of her interest. Kamijou Touma, that spiky haired pest of a person, had bested her when it should have been a flawless and effortless victory on her end. The fact that it had nothing to do with work and was a personal matter at that only made the memory that much more of an annoyance to recall. For if he had been a real enemy, had she been facing someone like that elsewhere, then she would not have left that riverbank completely intact. She knew this to be true, everyone who resided in the darkness knew that little fact to hold some merit, and thus was the reason why it pissed her off to have lost.

It wasn't even really the fact that she had lost which bothered her so much. It was the fact that, in the moment which the two of them were struggling, she had been left powerless and was practically at the boy's mercy. He had no reason to be merciful after being subjected to a blatant display of murderous intent. She had shown no remorse in her actions, she attacked with the full intention of killing and ripping his body to pieces to scatter into the river. And yet, when the opportunity arose for him to exploit her powerless state, he instead chose to do nothing but detain her. By all accounts, the fellow teen could have done so much to her in that moment over powerlessness that it was odd for him not to have done anything at all. He could have beat her to death, could have strangled her, stabbed her, hell even rape her if he wanted; but he didn't.

Kamijou Touma had done nothing but calmly assess the situation and restrained her from making any further movements. You could call him a merciful opponent or you could simply call him an idiot; but one thing that couldn't be said was that he was disinteresting.

At the same time, however, the things which made Kamijou a fascinating individual also made him the greatest annoyance to recall. Again, the fact that he had turned the tides on her and won their duel in the span of a single minute wasn't what irritated her. Rather, it was the composure and attitude in which he settled the matter which troubled her the most. Even the way he went about the events of that evening prior to accepting her challenge annoyed her to an extent. How could someone enter such a life-threatening situation with such disinterest and yet possess enough morality to not allow others to become involved in it? Could she simply chalk all of those factors to him simply being a compassionate person? The actions which lead to her gaining an interest in him in the first place concluded as much; going out of his way to 'rescue' her from a group of thugs the night before last were proof enough that he had enough compassion to help people in need. The fact that he didn't attack her and only restrained her last night also pointed towards the same direction; in spite of the fact that she had nearly killed him on multiple occasions in the span of ten minutes.

Of course, she really couldn't reach a firm conclusion based on the few interactions she had made with him in the past two days. Interpretations of his character based on limited observation would only lead to an inconclusive assessment. She had made a mistake in her original evaluation regarding his combat strengths during their little contest, and it was because of that poor estimation which cost her in the end. That had been what had irritated her during the remainder of the evening and well into the next day. Mugino was prone to overestimating her own abilities at times; having suffered from her own mistakes in the past to be aware of this to an extent. That same overestimation and the underestimation of the boy she currently couldn't remove from her head could have cost her life had this been something that occurred in the world she thrived in. It was a mistake that needed to be amended, one that she needed to commit to memory for future reference.

Just because she didn't like to fuck-up didn't mean she didn't take her failures into account.

For every failure, she gained the means to improve herself further and avoid having the same fuck-up occur ever again.

That was the basis of learning; which was the only reason why Mugino Shizuri wasn't livid about losing to a boy who had bested her in the span of one minute.

In the depths of her subconscious mind, a small portion of her kindness had to give thanks to that spiky-haired boy. She may not have fulfilled her original purpose in that event, but she had at least gained something valuable from that occurrence which she could use to better herself. Even if she had 'won' in his mind, the victory would have been a hollow one in the first place; so there was no point in fretting over something as meager as that. She gained some insight on what that right hand of his too; now knowing precisely what she needed to do and what to avoid doing should they ever find themselves facing each other again. Oh yes, she had the full intention of accomplish her initial goal from before when it concerned Kamijou Touma. They would cross paths again, this much was assured, and when that inevitable day came she would take what she wanted from him.

His eyes would definitely make for a nice trophy once she personally ripped them out from his sockets.

But that day could wait, it would have to wait. As much as she detested the thought of him, there was knowledge to be gained from keeping him alive that she could learn from. His victory had made him her subject of interest, something she wanted to keep tabs on even if she was going to kill him in the end of it all anyway. There were so many questions that had perked her curiosity here that she desired to know. While his ability was interesting enough, it wasn't just the ability that made Kamijou worth looking into. She wanted to know _**him **_as an individual, learn who precisely he was on a personal level. Who did he know in this city? What Level Esper was he? Where did learn to fight the way he had? How did he accumulate the experience to know precisely how to fight against an Esper like herself and only suffer minimal damage throughout it all? These were only first of a mile's worth of inquiries which flashed through her mind as she sat at her desk; the butt of her pencil tapping against the thick book underneath as her eyes gained a glossed look due to her own musings.

"Mugino-san?"

Having been addressed, the girl turned her gaze over towards the instructor in the front of the class; his tall frame and well groomed visage which portrayed the image of a professional educator went largely ignored as she returned his inquisitive stare. Apparently he wasn't the only one who's stare had caught her attention, as several other members of her class had shifted their own gaze once their teacher had called out to her. It wasn't often that Mugino was addressed in this manner, she usually paying attention to the lesson at hand and was among the brightest in their class. But today something really must have been off with her, as she seemed more or less in a dazed state of mind. Once it became clear that her thoughts had gained her some rather unwanted attention, the Level 5 took a moment to readjust herself and forgo her thoughts for the time being.

"Yes, sensei?"

Just like that, her façade of a respectable and proper young lady was forced back to the surface at the call of her instructor. The tone used to address the man being a mixture of tenderness and self-assurance in accordance to the mild curiosity that was blended in to make her seem startled. She wasn't really; Geometry was a field she could perform in spades without putting forth much effort at all. Most subjects were like that actually; so it was a real bore to even report to school grounds for these pointless lessons. About the only useful purpose this place provided for her, excluding public image, was giving her time to ponder in relative peace without being bothered. Even with such a benefit, coming to school was still quite meaningless in the eyes of someone who thrived in a world much darker and much more real than the one she was currently submerged in.

"Is everything alright, you seem troubled."

This side of the world thrived on that ignorance; they did what was told of them to do like sheep being lead to the slaughter. She had seen it happen enough, done it herself a number of times herself to be truthful, and it was just a damn pathetic sight to behold. Seeing these people, walking among them, damn speaking with them was always did serve as a reminder of what she very well could have been had she not stepped foot into the shadow of this city. Every girl she saw, every gossiping little tramp, every slut she caught fanaticizing about some boy, every snobbish rich-bitch who popped up, all of them supplied her with the motivation to never become anything like that. It was just plain pathetic, it was disgraceful, and it wasn't a life which she found appealing in any way imaginable.

"No sir, I'm fine." The thin yet charming smile she gave after her initial response was what ultimately reassured the man enough to resume his lesson, thus causing everyone else to return their attention to the front of the classroom. None had noticed, none had paid any further attention for the single moment in which Mugino's gentle front briefly contorted into an expression far more menacing than it had been previously before shifting back into original state.

She could never dally in the light like these pathetic lambs who couldn't tell their foot from their ass. If this was what it meant to be normal, what it meant to live peacefully in the light, than she was content with being a monster in the dark.

* * *

Opposed to what was expected and commonplace, there were certain groups of people who often did roam about the city streets even when, normally, classes were still in session. You still had your students who were out for lunch, the students who's class schedules allowed them the means to let out earlier than normal, and those who simply did not attend classes at all that day. No society was perfect, so it wasn't uncommon to see a student roaming around the streets after skipping school for the day. But because of the wide range of diversity between each school, it was a task in itself to determine what factors applied to which student. It was for this reason which made skipping classes easier for some people, though it was still something that was frowned upon by many educators once they caught wind of that particular student's actions.

Said students typically didn't care enough about what their teachers did in that regard, for most of them did it to have some fun and enjoy themselves with the day off.

But, for a certain individual, this wasn't one of those situations. If anything, his appearance outside of his normal routine acted as a sign of displeasure rather than enjoyment. While garbed in a typical white button down shirt and black slacks befitting for an average high-school student, the image was tarnished somewhat by the expression that was worn on this particular person's features. It wasn't the look of someone who was indulging on his freedom. It was a look belonging to someone who appeared to have lost all sense of interest in the world around him; his intent focused on the small screen of the phone he was holding in front of him. The small screen which held nothing but a long wall of text displayed on a white background. Despite looking directly at it, his caramel brown eyes weren't moving even in the slightest, which indicated that he wasn't reading whatever it was that was displayed on the screen.

One would inquire what his reasoning was behind having the phone displaying that text open if they had no intention to read it. But there was a reason as to why he wasn't reading it, and that reasoning was because the contents that were displayed had been read countless times that he could nearly recite everything written down to the last letter. So why was he keeping it open? What was the purpose of doing this if the contents were so vivid in one's mind? Those were questions which he would not be so inclined to answer. He had his reasons, and such reasons were ones which were not meant to be disclosed unless the young man felt inclined to reveal them.

And after several moments of silently staring at the screen, a light push from the index finger on the hand holding the phone closed the mobile device and thus returned him to the world of the living. A sweeping glance around him yielded an abundance of students immersed in their own private conversations as they enjoyed the outdoor café. While many of the tables and benches were occupied by groups of both mixed and single sexes, the table in which he was stated at was devoid of anyone save himself. Despite the obvious fact that he was alone, across from him was a single glass of water, which indicated that the young man had been expecting someone. The waitress had already come and removed the utensils and the remains of what little he had felt like eating; but the glass of water had remained untouched. The boy had asked for it to remain that way, still expecting for his company to arrive even if it was clear that they wouldn't.

The young man didn't miss the sympathetic look the waitress had sent him for being stood up, but he paid little mind to it.

After several moments of pointless observation, the young man finally let out a sigh as he went to stand up; the leg of his chair scraping against the white concrete as his body pushed it backwards whilst simultaneously pocketing the phone which was still present in his hand. It was shortly after this movement that someone new had made a less-than-gracious entrance into the enclosed outdoor café area. With a leap over the short metal fence which surrounded the place, a young woman appearing roughly the same age as himself came sprinting over to his table. While the sudden appearance of the girl was startling enough, many found that the actions she took upon reaching the table the solitary young man was located to be just plain rude. She didn't provide any sort of greeting to the young man, nor did she even regard his existence in front of her when she came within visual range. The moment she approached, she took the glass of water that had remained untouched and quickly chugged its contents so vigorously that it was surprising she hadn't choked.

"You're timely as usual." Muttered the young man; his expression neutral as if he was accustomed to this rather brash behavior coming from the girl. "You could at least try to show up on time, you know."

The heavy exhale which escaped the girl's lips as she completely drained the glass of its contents was all that followed this statement before finally addressing the boy across from her. Her attire was simple in some cases, but still unusual to see outside of school grounds. She was wearing what one would commonly see on a track-runner; which composed of a short-sleeved maroon colored shirt that exposed her midriff with matching colored shorts that ceased at her mid-thighs. Both of these articles of clothing were quite fitting, but the additional factors that played a part of making her seem modest were the black socks which extended over her calves and the white sweatshirt that was tied by the sleeves around her waist. The choice of footwear had been a rather standard looking set of white sneakers with the soles matching the color of her shorts and shirt. Her deep red hair was tied into a ponytail which extended out from the black baseball cap over her head, the rim of the hat doing its job and keeping her hazel gray eyes covered in shade from the piercing sun above them.

Obviously, if her actions upon arrival were of any indication, she was sweating profusely yet otherwise appeared to have regained her breath and was only lightly panting. Over-all, she seemed quite appealing to look at, if the harsh glares that were being directed at the males accompanied by the opposite sex were of any indication. He most certainly couldn't blame them really, for the girl across from him certainly did have great looking legs.

"You saved me again, Kurou-kun, I'd have died if it hadn't been for you." That had been the statement the girl in question had used to greet the boy, now known as Kurou, before seating herself down on the arm of the metal chair. Her tone was one that certainly wasn't lacking in enthusiasm, this much anyone could guess, and bore enough exuberance within to fill up a whole classroom.

"Don't thank me, you're still late you know." Despite the energetic and cheerful demeanor which the girl produced, the young man seemed immune to the factors which added to her character. Though, even as he said this, the slight upward twitch of his lips was still noticeable to the person addressing him. "So, what kept you?"

"Khehehe, funny story behind that. See, I was-"

"Forget it, you're here now and that's all that matters, you know."

With a dismissive gesture of his hand, he shoved his hands in his pockets before turning around to leave the café, having already paid for his lunch. The girl whom he was speaking to merely grinned before removing herself from her previous position on the chair and trotted up behind him with her hands behind her back. Once she was directly beside him and out of the café area, she leaned her body forward slightly to peer at Kurou's face, taking note of the faint signs of stress that married his features.

"You okay Kurou-kun?" Inquired the girl, her voice baring a few traces of worry hidden within the otherwise energetic tone that she normally produced. "You don't look so good."

"It's nothing Chouka." Assured the boy, his gaze never shifting away from the area in front of him and his tone maintaining it neutrality. "I just don't typically enjoy being around a lot of people is all, you know?"

That statement caused a bit of realization to shine in those hazel gray eyes of the girl beside him. This only caused the concern which her tone had expressed to now surface in her eyes as she continued to gaze at him with worry. Chouka knew the reason behind that statement, had more than enough reason to comment on his actions as well, but chose not to address her worries. Kurou had his reasons for doing the things he did most of the time, so there was no real cause to question him on matters which he chose not to discuss. If he told her to not worry about something, while she would indeed be concerned, she would heed his words if only because she didn't want to invade on his personal space. She would when the time required her to do so, but in other cases she would leave him be and let him sort things out on his own. It was what he wanted, but not for the same reasons which most people would expect.

It wasn't because he wished to be withdrawn, but because he himself didn't want to burden others with his problems. The feeling was a mutual one honestly, something in which Kurou knew quite well, thus the reason why she remained silent and let him be.

"Are the other's waiting?" Having no desire to be in a dreary mood, the girl known as Chouka decided a change in topic was in order; going straight for the purpose behind her meet-up with the boy beside her.

"Obviously, they're all waiting on us." Responded the young man, his caramel brown eyes shifting over to apply a knowing and disapproving look towards his companion; who merely chuckled sheepishly in response while adjusting her hat in a vain attempt to avoid his stare. "You've really got to work on punctuality in the future, you know."

"I said I was sorry Kurou-kun." The rather meek retort was all that the girl could provide at the moment as a result for her tardiness. The fact that she look so dejected by the whole thing only added to the depressed aura which was lingering around her.

"Don't be, our next job shouldn't take too long." In that statement, the neutral tone which had been consistent in his tone had lifted slightly and replaced with a bit of amusement as he patted the girl's head and adjusted the cap to its normal position; a lopsided grin doing a good job at removing the stress from his features and making appear much more lively than before. "If we finish fast enough, we might even get a bonus this time you know."

"Really!" And just like that, the red-headed bundle of energy had lost all signs of depression and was once against staring at him almost as if she had stars in her eyes. "What are we waiting for then, let's hurry!"

Like the image that her attire presented, the girl was quick to run through the crowd of people in such a manner that many would find themselves impressed that she hadn't bumped into a single person with how fast she was going.

"Wait a minute you twit!"

Kurou, on the other hand, wasn't as fortunate in terms of keeping up with the energetic girl who had easily left him in the dust.

But even as he ran to catch up with the track-runner, the contents that had been displayed on his phone continued to toy away at his mind. The information that was present there, what was held within that wall of text which he had mostly memorized, continued to weigh heavily down on his thoughts. From the moment he had attained it, to the moments prior to Chouka's arrival, many thoughts raced through his mind and had refused to cease no matter how hard he tried to ignore them. But, among the many questions which raced through his being all at once, one particular question emerged which took precedence amongst all others that had been presented.

The question which he had asked himself a great number of times in the past couple of days was a rather simple one:

And it was one he unintentionally voiced aloud.

"How should we proceed from here?"

* * *

Why hello there, fancy seeing you here.

Straight to the point, this is a filler chapter and I'll be the first to admit that. Now, while the theme behind this one is more along the lines of 'confusion' than anything else, I felt that it was necessary to show off a bit of Mugino's school life and the reasons she even bothers with it in the first place. Hey, Touma has to go to school why not her as well? I also wanted to put a little bit of insight on how Touma views Mugino at this point, having gave Mugino plenty of time to ponder who Touma was since chapter two. Hopefully this will satisfy those who were wondering how Touma viewed Mugino at this point in time.

Also, unlike in chapter three, the characters which are present in the last scene do hold some significance. Yes they are OC's, but by reading this story you should already be prepaired to see at least a good number of them appear throughout this story. Don't worry, though, I'll keep them balanced.

Finally, in terms of updates, I'm not sure if I will be as quick with updates as I was with the first four chapters. The only reason I was able to do so with the first four was because they were pretty much back-to-back situations. Meaning it was much easier to write once I had the momentum going. I'll do what I can to update as much as possible, but don't expect my updates to be as erratic as they had been before. All I ask is that your patient with me; I've got a lot planned and a lot of sorting out to do to see those ideas follow through the way I envisioned them.

As always, if there are any inquiries, thoughts, or concerns that arise in your mind, feel free to address them to me and I'll do what I can to answer them. Otherwise, I hope you enjoyed my little piece of work.

Goodbye for now.


	6. ORDER

Greetings!

It has recently come to my attention that A Certain World of Darkness is now 10% more worthy of having your illusions broken for (if you get this, congrats). This, ultimately, makes me laugh and at the same time feel bit pressured. But, for right now, I'm just gonna skip the crap up here and send you on your way to reading the next chapter of A Certain World of Darkness.

Enjoy

* * *

The weekend, like one would expect, was possibly the greatest time for any student who inhabited the city of science. It was a time of absolute rest, a time of relaxation, and a time to basically enjoy the finer points which made Academy City famous in the first place. Entertainment venues, such as karaoke bars, swimming pools, arcades; social outlets fitting for any age could congregate and enjoy some time away from the stressful school environment. Older, more mature, venues were also a rather popular location for many of the teaching staff and researchers to gather for the sake of relieving some of their own stress, so it wasn't as though only the youth of this population indulged on the two days of freedom from their respected duties. Given, students and staff still attended school on Saturdays for half a day of classes, it was still better than a full day like normal, thus it was still something worth indulging even if it wasn't a full day off. That wasn't the case for everyone of course, accounting those who were not given the time to spare thanks to specific projects, experiments, club-activities and other school-related projects which soaked up their time.

To summarize, even if it usually one was a single day off, the weekend was a time to enjoy one's self rather than work; and if one chose the latter as a preferable option than that was their choice.

Of course, for ITEM, any time which they weren't working was spent indulging on the fruits of their own labor. They had no reason to worry about money, most of them were rather knowledgeable in the classroom, and all of them were given the freedom to do what they pleased whenever they pleased. It was one of the few benefits that came with working in the dark underbelly of this city so long as they maintained their usefulness. So long as their backer was satisfied, the job was done, and they didn't cause too large of a scene, then it was safe to assume they could do whatever they wanted. Considering the four girls were always faced with life-or-death situations, it wasn't surprising that they would want something in return for their services and to be compensated for their time. Money and the freedom to use it, that was the basic principle of greed and some people's price is much steeper than others.

Mugino, however, didn't really care much for the money opposed to the idea of killing someone. In fact, when she entered this cruel and cold world beneath the surface, money wasn't even among the list of reasons for getting involved. Having been so long since that time, she really couldn't recall the purpose behind entering this world to begin with. Was it impulse, the desire to grow stronger, to be better, to be feared, to kill? Who knew, she herself certainly couldn't recall and none of the members of ITEM openly discussed their reasons for stepping foot into the black void of Academy City. It largely had to do with the fact that nobody had asked anyone that question; though even if they did the chances of receiving an answer were slim. Reasons didn't matter in Mugino's humble opinion, so long as the girl's were useful and served a purpose then she didn't care.

Said girls, Mugino included, were located in a rather plain chain restaurant in District 7 opposed to their usual hangout in the café within District 15, having met up for the same reasons as usual. Having spent the past two days without work and focusing on keeping their individual appearances in check, an official ITEM meeting was rather necessary since they had the additional free-time to gather and commune like any other group of teenage girls on the weekend. As things were, all four of them were preoccupying themselves with their own usual habits when together whilst casually ignoring the surrounding populous that inhabited the eatery in the process.

Takitsubo was off in her own little world somewhere, while Kinuhata was busy next to her reading magazine ads about recently added movies for specific theaters, with Frenda happily indulging on the canned good she had brought with her today seated across from her. The occasional chatter that went on between the two of them was largely disregarded by Mugino, having long sense lost the desire to enjoy the salmon bento she had brought with her after losing her appetite partway through it. Having said this, she instead had taken to staring up at the television set in the far west corner of the diner, her elbow resting on the table whilst her hand held her head up as she observed.

It wasn't uncommon to see news reports of recent happenings going on within the city to be broadcasting in eateries such as this. District 7 was a particular large district after all, so the broadcasting networks were useful in terms of keeping track of recent events that may be unfolding elsewhere within the city. But, even with the subtitles displayed on the monitor telling her what was being said, the girl with soft tea colored hair couldn't really find it in herself to pay much attention to the broadcast. Maybe it was because the topic they had chosen to perform a news report on was dull and uninteresting. Perhaps it was due to the fact that she, and by default anyone else who worked in the shadows, knew that half of what was displayed on the news was a load of shit in the first place. Whatever the case may be, Mugino's attention wasn't so intent on the subject being displayed; her eyes appearing a bit glossy which indicated that her mind was elsewhere; much like Rikou was. Except her thoughts were actually focused instead of scattered about like the aforementioned member of ITEM, for her psyche was still focused on a particular matter which had failed to vanish over the past two days.

Kamijou Touma, the ordinary boy with spiky black hair and an extraordinary right hand, was still on the forefront of her mind.

It wasn't something she could particularly control, for even if she wanted to erase him from her mind she most likely would not have. There were too many unknown factors revolving around that boy that made her intent on learning anything which was worthwhile. That same interest is what acted as the driving force behind some of her more recent actions in terms of gathering information regarding him. Normally, she didn't have to try very hard to gain information on anyone of remote interest so long as she spoke to the right people. As a group which had the support of a Board Member and working within the darkness of this city, information was something that could be attained fairly quick if you had the connections and the funds to pay for the knowledge. Mugino, being the leader of a successful and effective group in that side of the world, had both of these in spades. All she needed to do was make a simple phone call and she could have a full profile of just about anyone in the city; so long as they were a resident.

Key word here, however, was 'normally'.

Apparently, Kamijou was not as normal as either of them believed.

Calling her irritated would have been a grave understatement if one had heard the conversation she held with the person on the other end of the phone that day. Irritation was a key factor which was displayed, but the answer she had received had perplexed her just as much as it had angered her. Given the response she received, it was hard not to understand. For when she had inquired that particular boy's profile, her informant had basically stated that, aside from the basics, most of that particular person's profile was labeled as classified information. Again, following the normal proceedings, this kind of response wouldn't be such an issue considering what she knew. The fact that the boy in question held an ability that could nullify the abilities of other Espers pretty much gave away the fact that it wasn't a subject that wasn't valued highly among the city's higher ups. But accessing classified information was something that was still possible depending on the level of security which the information was locked under, otherwise there was little purpose in performing certain jobs that had identification on certain targets. As it stood, the highest level of security clearance was necessary in order to access the files of Level 5's like herself.

But, again, that was following under normal procedures, and Kamijou was not within that particular criteria.

Because, from what her informant had stated, the profile on that boy was classified under the same level of security clearance as her and the other Level 5's.

That knowledge both perplexed and infuriated the girl to the point that she had broken her phone. The fact that she had broken it with her bare hands was proof enough that her anger was at a point that using her powers would have caused some serious damage to her surroundings. Still, she had resolved to seek out the information herself; only to realize that it was precisely as her informant had stated. Any information portraying to that boy was either useless or restricted, leading her with very little to go by and many more questions to eat away at her thoughts. As far as she was concerned, Touma was a person who was extremely valuable to this city, yet was practically non-existent in its databanks.

Mugino had seen many things over the years in the darkness, thus she knew when someone was deliberately pulling the strings behind certain events to keep the populous from gaining too much awareness of the happenings going on outside their perfect little worlds. Someone among the higher ups was keeping tabs on that boy, someone that stood far above the commonplace corporation or a research institution trying to subdue those who became too nosy in affairs that they shouldn't be getting involved in. Whoever was observing that boy was high up in the chain, thus the possibility of a member among of the Board of Directors keeping a close eye on him becoming more plausible than previously expected. That, however, raised the question as to who among those board members was watching him, who among them was that interested in his development.

With the means of acquiring information on the lad stunted considerably for the time being, Mugino had ceased her search until another method to acquire his personal file presented itself. Given, she still had a few aces she could exploit to gain the knowledge she wanted, but utilizing those methods were not meant to be employed for personal reasons. She couldn't squander those resources; they were too valuable and costly to be exploited unless the situation called for it. While that boy's significance would indeed be worth it in her mind, she still had to act as a professional and thus make responsible decisions when they mattered most. Using up resources was not the manner in which a professional achieves success; if anything it displayed precisely how professional you were when you didn't need to use those trump cards even when they were easily accessible.

So, for the time being, gaining any sort of knowledge on Kamijou Touma would have to wait. As much as she detested the idea of putting him aside for another time, she would need to find an alternate means to obtaining the information she was looking for regarding him.

As soon as that particular thought crossed her mind, a loud humming sound could be heard coming from the girl directly beside her. Frenda, having felt the vibrations coming from her skirt-pocket, had responded accordingly and retrieved her phone to find that she had received a text message. Without missing a beat, the girl flipped the phone open and scanned its contents, her blue eyes shifting and growing more and more interested the more she read before finally shifting her attention over towards Mugino. The blonde foreign girl didn't even speak in regards to its contents, preferring instead to simply hand the older girl her phone so she could read for herself what the message entailed.

The fact that she didn't speak was indication enough that it was information regarding to their line of work; or at least a portion of what ITEM did. It was true that they handled certain situations that could not be dealt with normally and had long since escalated to a point that containing it was becoming too problematic. While that was their primary purpose of their group, they would occasionally be given other tasks which prevented certain events from growing out of proportion. These particular jobs ranged from sabotaging projects to assassinating specific individuals as a means to deliver a message to whoever needed to be dealt with. Though, admittedly, these jobs were not nearly as satisfying half the time, but they were still necessary in order to maintain balance amongst the higher ups in the city so that no-one had an overly high advantage over everyone else. That had been the reasoning behind performing these 'mundane' tasks which ITEM did on the side; though none of the individuals present typically enjoyed doing them.

So, after taking the phone from Frenda and scanning its contents herself, Mugino couldn't help but find herself relieved to finally have something worth her time after spending nearly four days without work. From what the message entailed, a military weapon developer from District 2 had recently gone missing after it was noted that his car had not left the parking garage since it had arrived earlier that morning. Eye witness accounts had turned up with nothing and the security cameras stationed around the perimeter had turned up with nothing as well. Reviewing the security footage and manually inspecting each one in that particular area, the results from the investigation turned up with no indications of tampering of any sort had occurred. Though, performing a thorough sweep of the general area, signs of a struggle had been identified and thus lead to the conclusion that the man in question was abducted.

From what the media was able to get a hold of, the perpetrators were still at large and the developer's whereabouts were still unknown. But, from what she was currently reading, it seemed that the people who had captured the developer had already gained what they wanted from him; as his body had finally been located in a dumpster by the border of Districts 10 and 2. Having reached that far, it was clear to her already that, whoever was behind it, didn't really have the means to move about freely and were unable to properly dispose of the body in a furnace. Either that or they were quite short on time and simply didn't care how they got rid of the corpse. But, as she steadily reached the end of the report, the identity of the ones responsible of the incident had finally been listed; which caused Mugino to momentarily pause from reading the rest of the message.

"ORDER?" Mumbled the girl, her tone holding a hint of uncertainty as if the name was completely unfamiliar to her. "Why doesn't that name ring any bells?"

"Basically because they're not affiliated with a board member, or at least I don't think they are." Responded the blonde beside her, she too appearing to be puzzled by the identity of the people responsible behind the incident. "I think I heard about them a few times, but basically their organization is small so I didn't really pay them much attention whenever the name did come up."

"Hmm." Normally, Mugino would have scolded her for not paying more attention to these other factions; but thought better of it and decided to give her the benefit of the doubt for once. She couldn't really demand for everyone to pay attention to every little rodent that decided to enter this snake-pit of a world. The fact that Mugino herself hadn't known anything about the group as well showed that there were groups and organizations out there that even she wasn't aware of. It was understandable really, for one tends to ignore the smaller details in favor of the larger picture in front of them. That being said, after completing the rest of the message on the phone and sending the same text to the others, she snapped the device shut before handing it back to Frenda. "What did you hear about them then Frenda?"

"Basically, as I said before, they don't work for a board member and I think they're composed mainly of telepathic Espers." As she spoke, the blond took to leaning further back in the chair she was seated in and folded her legs underneath the counter; her brow furrowed as she tried to recall what little she knew. "They're a small organization and basically like a group used to do shakedowns for some VIP. I don't have much else though aside from that, and even then I'm not sure if it's completely accurate."

"What about names, titles, aliases; things in that nature?" While the message had informed them that more information would be provided at a later point in time today, having the slightest bit of additional knowledge would provide them with a good head-start in locating their soon-to-be targets.

"Basically, all I know is that the head of their group is a Level 4, but no details on what their ability is." Was the unfortunate truth which Frenda was able to provide, her expression showing that she too was quite miffed at having so little to go by. Shifting her blue sphere's over towards the girl sitting directly across from her, the blonde opted to ask her comrade a question of her own. "You know anything, Kinuhata?"

"I've super got nothing." Muttered the girl in response, having basically skimmed through the entire message and gained the jest of what the situation was. "I super never even heard of an organization called ORDER until now. It's possible that they aren't just some super small organization, but more like a really quiet one that the higher ups super don't want people even in our line of work to know about."

"If that was the case, then why would they be making such obvious mistakes in their attempts to cover the event up?" Interjected Mugino, her skepticism regarding the latter's opinion being pretty clear as she too sat back in her seat as she began to try and gain some insight of any possible motives which this group was intent on going after. "The method they had used to dispose of the body was proof enough that being subtle wasn't their primary concern. This tells us that, whatever their objective is; it's being forced to progress ahead of their original schedule."

"What was the developer working on?" This inquiry was not one that was being addressed to the group as a whole, and it was not one that was raised by any of the three aforementioned young women gathered in that particular booth. The question had been addressed by the individual who had remained silent up until that very moment, and it wasn't one that had been asked while looking at anyone in particular. That simple statement was one that was merely voiced aloud as she had completed the text-message and sent it directly to the person who had sent them the information in the first place. It was shortly after she had snapped her phone shut did Takitsubo realize that all eyes were on her for that moment before her gaze grew distant once more. "That could be what ORDER's objective is."

"Super good thinking Rikou-chan!"

"Basically, now all we need to do is wait for the information to come back and we'll at least have a lead."

"That's most likely the case, good work Takitsubo."

The congratulations being directed towards her did little to drive away the distant look that resurfaced in the girl's eyes. Still, even if she didn't respond to their praise, she still heard all of them and allowed the briefest of smiles to surface before it was washed away in the sea of AIM fields that she subconsciously felt around her. Having gained that bit of insight and only requiring a bit more information before they could carry out their assigned task, the girl's once more returned to their previous activities as they waited as if nothing had changed. They had something to go with, and if it really came down to it, the four of them could split up the tasks and follow whatever leads presented to them in the near future. While it was true that they all functioned best when they were all together and working as a unit, that was not to say that going separate ways to pursue multiple targets was outside their capabilities. With the exception of Frenda, Kinuhata and herself were Level 4 Espers, with Mugino easily being capable of handling most situations on her own due to her status as a Level 5. Even without any supernatural abilities, Frenda was still a very capable individual with or without the three of them with her.

That was what ITEM was, what made them one of the most recognized organizations within the underground of Academy City. They were all capable of handling themselves to some degree, and even if Takitsubo wasn't the fighting type she was still able to defend herself to a degree.

Just as the group of girls had settled back into their original states prior to receiving the message, Rikou suddenly felt something that, in her mind, should not have been present. As previously stated, while her combat capabilities were left to be desired, her ability and purpose in ITEM wasn't used for the sake of combat. Her ability, AIM Stalker, was used for the purpose of tracking and memorizing AIM dispersion fields to the point that it was practically impossible to escape from her 'vision'. Passively, the ability causes a significant amount of mental strain on her since it remains constantly active, though the effective range of her abilities is hindered significantly; allowing her to only track AIM fields within a four-foot radios. There was a method to allow this range to practically double in scale, but doing so was something which was only required when normal methods or the normal range of her abilities when actively using it were insufficient.

The point of the matter is this: once Takitsubo Rikou has committed a person's AIM field to memory, it essentially means that there is no escaping or hiding from her.

That being said, something was particularly off about this feeling she suddenly was on the receiving end of. It wasn't the field itself, though she couldn't actually place what the sensation it gave off felt like. No, it was the fact that the field was familiar, one that she had memorized at some recent point in time. Yet, despite her best efforts, she could not recall precisely who this individual was aside from the fact that the person was familiar to her somehow. Given her ability, however, her failure in recalling a particular person over the masses of AIM fields she had felt and memorized was justifiable. With so much information coming in at one time, being forgetful of these things was to be expected given her circumstances. Even so, something about this particular feeling she was getting, this particular field which had somehow slipped into her range, felt like it belonged to someone distinctive; someone of great significance.

Shortly after this thought crossed her mind, two distinctive sounds had broken her out of her musings; one of which being louder than the other. The first had been the sound of multiple forms of tableware crashing onto the smooth yet plain, marble floors in which they stood on. The second noise…

"GAHHHHHHH!"

…was the sound of some unfortunate soul who had caught the attention of nearly every patron in the place.

And in that moment, two sets of eyes widened among the four girls in that particular booth upon realizing precisely who had caused the disturbance. Largely unaware of those two individual's increased attention towards the person causing the ruckus, Kinuhata had been the one to voice the first thought that came to mind.

"Hey, isn't that the guy who was super hitting on Rikou-chan a few days ago?"

* * *

One could not deny that certain administrative buildings bore a rather unique flavor to it that not everyone had a taste for. By that, of course, we are referring to the housing in which certain high-class individuals resided in District 1. Of course, some administrators chose to reside in the many high-rise buildings which made up the city, and some others choosing instead with public housing for the additional security and privacy. Still, it didn't take someone with an above average IQ to determine the fact that most administrative accommodations bore a distinct trait to them based once they gain entry. With large sums of money at their disposal, higher class individuals tended to buy most nearly anything that looked expensive or interesting opposed to focusing on the things that really mattered. Trinkets, antiques, paintings; it mattered little if any of these things or any other useless crap actually fit the décor or not. So long as that thing was worth a considerable amount and would further display that person's wealth then it was practically bought the moment they set their sights on it.

It was such thoughtless and wasteful spending of nearly endless funds which often times lead to many of the working class to become spiteful of the rich and privileged. Those who stood at the top would merely take that spite as a sign of jealousy and, for the most part, they were right to assume that. Not every high quality person was as wasteful with their money though, some actually did do great things with their wealth, spending less of it on material possessions and more towards the spiritual gratification that came from using those funds to help others. Believe it or not, a member among the Board of Directors was actually a very generous and thoughtful woman who provided greatly to the public of Academy City; so that was proof enough that not all of the fortunate and wealthy were corrupt down to the core with greed.

The same, however, could not be said about the individual who resided within this particular abode; even the most casual of observers could tell this person cared more about the numbers in his bank account than he did about life.

"What a shit-hole."

The individual who had made this astute, though uncouthly worded, statement simply could not stand the sight of their own surroundings without cringing. The place was once spotless, sure, but it was still littered with so many useless accessories that it was a mystery in regards to what was going through this person's mind in regards to why he would purchase it all for in the first place. It was like the owner of this residence was just begging to be robbed, though that would have been a difficult task to achieve with the security that was set up to prevent burglaries. But that little countermeasure meant little to someone who knew precisely how to bypass standard defenses as if they were never put in place to begin with. Of course, with the recent events that had unfolded, there was more to this particular person's security system besides just cameras and an alarm.

It still yielded the same results though, so having armed guards stationed around the parameter and inside the abode was just an additional senseless purchase the owner had made.

"I knew the guy was a stingy bastard, but this is just pushing it." Continued the individual as they proceeded to spread out multiple written documents along the small bar counter-top adjacent to the den. The person's honey-brown eyes intently stared at each particular piece of information that was stored on the documents before them, eyes which were looking for something specific but had yet to be located. Though, in a world of internet and Emails, it was surprising that the person wasn't staring at a laptop monitor opposed to the hand-written documents that were presented in front of them. Even the person who was performing this rather tedious action was surprised to have found actual paper-copy documents and reports that matched the owner's handwriting. If anything, it was a surprise to find that person who lived in this over furnished home still wrote anything himself, but that was honestly just an over exaggeration.

After filtering through all the information that was presented on the documents, the individual who had been speaking finally let out a loud groan as he stood up from the bar-stool he had previously been seated in. His hand combing through the short locks of chestnut brown hair that was slicked backwards and thin eyebrows furrowing as he clinched his eyes shut in annoyance. His stature was one you would would expect to see in your typical Japanese male in their late teens, though his complexion was noticeably less pale than most. Typically, these traits alone would have provided him with rather mature appearance; but his choice of attire only further added to that image of maturity despite not being passed the age of twenty.

It consisted of a simple, pinstriped, dark gray single breasted suit with a single button located on the center point of his upper body, a cream white dress shirt underneath the jacket and topped off with standard crimson necktie. His footwear was rather standard as the rest of his attire, having opted for a set of black monkstrap dress shoes opposed to more formal type of footwear that usually applied to this type of appearance. Though, oddly enough, one particular item on this man's person was clearly out of place in this world where science and technology was abundant and dominant. The item in question was a silver pocket-watch that was attached to a long, thin, silver chain that was attached to the belt-loop on his right hip.

"Nothin' here." Muttered the young man, his gaze over-looking the lavished furnishings and towards the staircase which lead to the upper floor above him. "You two find anything yet!?"

Many would have grown concerned when there was no response given after several moments of silence following this inquiry. Yet, instead of apprehension, the young man's expression merely became more irritated before he making way towards an opened doorway which appeared to have already been ransacked. Though, if he was to be brutally honest, the whole place was a mess at this point if the various bodies of several unidentified armed guards lying scattered about along the floor. The abode itself was relatively unscratched though, which was odd considering how heavily armed the group of individuals were. In the eyes of this man, though, weaponry and numbers mattered little; which spoke highly of either his individual skills or his supernatural capabilities.

Just as he was about to enter the room, the young man's feet ceased mid-step before shifting back up towards the stairs. His expression, opposed to before, shifted into that of relief before abandoning his previous destination and instead headed upstairs. He didn't hadn't even climbed up half-way before two individuals stepped into his line of vision at the top and began descending down to meet him.

The thing about these two individuals that caught most people's attention pretty quick was something that one could grasp from just a fleeting first glance. That being both of them looked completely identical in both dress and in terms of appearance. It wasn't a matter of just matching clothing and hairstyle; it was a literal fact that both of these individuals were identical twins. Both of these individuals were short, both of their heads stopping near the center of his torso, and both still baring rather cheeky grins as they stared down at him with matching autumn-bronze colored eyes. Hell, even their mop hairstyles was matching all the way down to the bangs, the black hair appearing rather tame yet still messy enough that the bangs obscured at least a portion of their left eyes. It was strange how, despite the idea of having two identical people silently staring down at him, the man in question didn't even let out shudder.

Reason being behind that was because he was far too accustomed to seeing them that he no longer got the chills after being on the receiving end of their stares.

In terms of attire, both were dressed in a more casual manner in contrast to the mature and business-like appearance which the older individual was sporting. The identical twins both wore dark turquoise colored sweaters which lacked sleeves while sporting white collared shirts underneath. To further produce a mirror image of the other beside them, both wore beige khaki shorts that stopped at their knees and brown leather belts holding up the shorts. To complete the image, and like the rest of the attire, their footwear were a matching set of standard brown loafers that were provided to students with white socks that rose only halfway up passed their shins. Because the twins were completely identical in appearance, one would never have suspected that they were not twins of the same gender; nor would anyone be capable of differentiating which of them was the brother and which was the sister.

Even now, the older male present among the three of them was not capable of identifying who was who at this point. The fact that he has been working with these two kids for some time now and still wasn't able to differentiate between the two was just further testament to how alike they were.

"You find it?" Inquired the maturely dressed youth, his right hand slipping itself into the pocket of his pinstriped slacks as he waited patiently for a response. Instead of a verbal confirmation, however, the twin on his right raised a small flash drive that was about the size of cell phone's memory stick. With their objective now complete, the man simply turned his gaze away from the two and stepped back down back to the ground floor of the household. The twins, who still have yet to speak, silently followed the retreating back of the older teen that had brought them here. As he moved, the teen's hand fished out his cell phone and merely tapped a single key that had been set to speed dial a specific number. He didn't even have to wait longer than a few seconds after putting the receiver up to his ear before the person he was calling had answered. "We got it; we'll meet up with you in half an hour."

"What happened to our benefactor?" Judging from the tone used by the speaker on the other end of the line, it was safe to assume that they had expected nothing less coming from the mature young man. It wasn't that the speaker on the opposing end was lacking in emotion, rather they simply preferred to keep their tone as neutral; which gave the impression that he was either bored or just disinterested in all the events currently taking place. "He did try to kill us in that last job, you know."

"Don't worry; I've got that under control." Responded the teen, his gaze lingering towards the room he was previously about to enter before the twins had located their objective. "I'll set him straight, though I doubt that normal negotiation methods are going to suffice. As you said, he did try to get us killed in that last job and I'm still sore about that; so I don't think he'll be able to buy his way out of this."

"Please don't make a mess, Sakurai." Apparently, the person on the opposite end of the line knew better than to believe a few words were all that man was going to be getting during that meeting. In saying this, it could be interpreted that the person speaking was attempting to stifle the urge to groan….and it was evident that he had failed since he proceeded to do so. "Chouka and I will meet up with you three later then."

"Fine, see you then." The now named individual, Sakurai, responded curtly before snapping his phone shut as his gaze remained locked on the doorway which he had previously been about to enter not long ago. After slipping his phone back into his pocket, caramel brown sphere's shifted over towards the two identical twins that had finally reached the bottom of the staircase and were currently looking back at him with grim expressions on their features. Again, not a word was spoken, but his expression noticeably changed to one of understanding before resting his hands atop each of the two's shoulders, his kind gestured not missed by the two youths. "Its fine, you two can get going. Just don't get too far ahead of me and I'll catch up with you in a couple of minutes."

Again, Sakurai received no real response from either of the twins, or at least no verbal response. Instead, the two merely nodded as one and stepped passed him and towards the most convenient exit. Sakurai, however, didn't even bother to watch as the two departed and set his sights on the doorway he had originally intending to visit. The room itself may have once looked organized and generate a sense of privacy which a traditional home office would create. While it was doubtful that the owner of the said room personally kept it in order to the degree it was before, it was well within the realm of possibility that the truth would never be disclosed to him after the events of today. It was also within the realm of possibility that nothing would be left of this place once he was done here. In its current state though, the home office appeared to look as though it had suffered from a miniature earthquake, as glass, papers, and various of other broken or scattered pieces of equipment scattered spread out everywhere along the floor. Yet, amidst all of this, only one particular thing had remained untouched by the discord that surrounded it. Said object was a luxurious brown leather office chair which remained upright and occupied by an older looking gentleman who was just as well dressed as himself.

Said older gentleman, however, hadn't remained seated willingly and was most certainly not calm in regarding his current dilemma. The man's arms and wrists had been forcefully bound to the armrests by power cords while his ankles were bound to the front two legs of the office chair using the same material used to bind his arms and wrists. In spite of being restrained, the man still continued in a vain attempt to free himself from his restraints; his muffled cries largely going unheard thanks to the bunched up of hand cloth that was stuffed into his mouth. Still, even from Sakurai's position at the doorway, the look of pure terror was easily noted to be present in the bound man's eyes and face; which was obviously the driving force behind his desperation to free himself.

Upon fully entering the larger than necessary office room, Sakurai gave a slight tug on the thin chain that hanging down from his waistband, the action causing the pocket-watch to slip out from the confines of his pocket and into the air briefly before landing in the center of his open hand. A of the thumb was all that took to open the lock and display the face of a traditional clock, which he gave a fleeting glance at before snapping the lid closed and slipping it back into his pants pocket. He had half an hour before he was supposed to meet up with the rest of his group, which gave him less than ten minutes to take care of the last loose end in this building before heading out to the rendezvous point. Another factor was that he had already sent off the twins ahead of him, and keeping those two unguarded for too long was not something he could particularly allow, which further narrowed down the amount of time he had left to carry out his final task.

"Well, guess this is it." Muttered the young man closing the door as he spoke in a tone suitable for someone who had just put an end to a discussion or dispute. This did little to calm or relieve the older gentleman who was bound; in fact it only spurred him on to release himself from his bindings. As if ignorant of his state of panic, Sakurai took to calmly making his way over towards the man in question, too busy in the process of removing his jacket to pay attention to his terrified state of being. By the time he had reached the older male in the room, he had his jacket removed and on the floor and both of the sleeves on his dress shirt rolled up neatly just a few inches below his elbows. Despite the composed visage of the teen standing over the bound man, indications of abhorrence could be seen within those honey-brown eyes as he stared down at the now sniveling man who was making a futile attempt to plea for his life. "I'm gonna un-gag you, but only so that you are given the opportunity to make your closing testimony. Regardless of what comes out of your mouth, you'll die; so make your last words count and don't waste it on a cry for help. No one's going to hear you anyway, so say whatever and get it out now while you still have the chance to do so."

Without giving the man so much as a second to process what was being said, Sakurai quickly yanked the cloth that was inside the man's mouth and tossed it to the floor beside the chair; though his gaze never once leaving the man's own tear stricken face for even a moment.

"Please, don't do this, I have a family!" And there it was, you're typical and cliché line used by most victims involved in a hostage or otherwise tragic situation that jeopardizes their lives. Upon hearing this, the younger male in the room had to refrain from rolling his eyes upon hearing the request. "Please, I'm begging you, let me go!"

"Aaaaaand you were under the impression that ORDER was a group of orphans or something?" Retorted the young man, his hand combing through his short locks of hair as if he was annoyed at himself for giving the man bound in front of him the luxury to speak. "You have the audacity to try and kill us without second thought when you thought we wouldn't get to you. But, when you can't run or hide anymore, you expect me to show some compassion just because you have a family? What a load of shit you are; consider yourself fortunate that I have less than five minutes to wrap this up. Otherwise, I would have taken my sweet ass time in torturing you to death."

With a distance of less than two feet between them, Sakurai's leg rose up slightly before using the heel of his foot to push the chair backwards with enough force applied to send it up against the wall without knocking the man over in the process. Though, if he was to be honest, knocking the older man to the floor would have sufficed, but it mattered little in the end. Before the older male could even make a response, the member of ORDER had both of his hands pressed against either side of the man's head while his thumbs had found themselves on the man's cheeks. It was at this point that the older gentleman in the room finally realized the full gravity of his decision two days ago the moment he looked into the eyes of the younger male. Said male's eyes, which should have been filled with life, were dull an empty of any emotion. They may have been beautiful eyes to look at normally, but in that moment where he could do nothing but stare at the lifeless spheres of this youth no beauty was present.

These were the eyes belonging to those who lost the spark of life that came from living in the light of this world.

These were the eyes belonging to those who had long since forfeited their innocence.

Eyes which belonged to the damned and the lost.

"You can scream now."

With that simple statement, Sakurai's thumbs rose up off his cheeks and over the gentleman's eyes; effectively obscuring everything within the man's vision as it was coated in darkness. Soon after the dark had consumed his vision, screams of agony so intense that one would be left feeling chilled to their bones echoed throughout the now vacant residence as the well dressed young man performed his final act of cruelty.

* * *

Hello again, how was the weather up there?

Now, no particular theme this time around; more like the official introduction of my own personal group of OC's. Now, I'm not sure how most of you readers feel about OC's, but I personally love making them. Plus, lets face it, you knew this was gonna happen sometime or another right? That's right ladies and gentlemen, I've now stepped into unknown territory! So, that being said, I hope you are all prepared for the ORDER Arc, because that's what's now officially happening. Also, because this is all me here and I'm not basing this arc. on any related content to the LN or anything, **updates will _not_ be so rapid**. Planning out an arc. and making it believable is not as easy as it sounds, and I have the full intentions of providing a solid plot-line for this particular one so I'm taking in every bit of information I can get my hands on to make it work. So, in regards to updates, I'll ask of you to please be patient with me; I'm doing all of this for you, the readers, to enjoy.

Now, I don't think it needs to be said, but this arc. is truly setting the tone for this story, so expect a bit more violence and some really mess up shit happening in the coming chapters. I'm not gonna get you hyped up and say things like 'its gonna be _epic!_' or 'its gonna get bloody'. All that I'm saying is that, if you aren't into that sort of thing and were expecting mainly humor, light action and such, you had best lose those expectations now. The title of this story pretty much says it all, and its not gonna be all rainbows and butterflies. That's not to say, however, that I'm taking away the factors which made Index an anime and novel we all enjoy, I'm just saying that as a means to remind everyone that this isn't gonna be pretty. Of course, if you are reading this story to begin with, then you kinda have that impression from the start; so I really didn't even need to say all that in the first place now did I?

I thought not.

Anyways, as usual, if there are any inquiries, thoughts, or concerns that arise in your mind, feel free to address them to me and I'll do what I can to answer them. Otherwise, I hope you enjoyed my little piece of work.

Goodbye for now.


	7. The Eleventh of May

Greetings to all!

It's nice to see everyone again, but I'm lacking in terms of things to say at this point. That being said, I'ma just shut up here and let you enjoy the latest chapter of A Certain World of Darkness.

* * *

If one took the time to truly ponder it long enough, they would be left surprised with the amount of things which a human being can eventually adapt to. Should they be located in a cold environment, one can gradually grow accustomed to the low temperatures and thus gain a resistance to it. In the event that the weather becomes too hot, the mind and body will eventually adjust to the levels of heat and thus leave the person more accustomed to that heat. The ability of adaptation was a beautiful gift to be given and a gift which scientists and researchers often base their studies on. Even sensations of both pain and pleasure were capable of adaptation should they be consistent enough. Of course, most tended to avoid adapting to the former and rightfully so; as accumulating injuries were obviously not worth the gain of growing immune to pain up to an extent.

However, there were cases where people could gain the means of attaining a limited amount of immunity to pain, though those instances were simply points of unavoidable circumstance. Despite saying this, a certain individual was not fortunate enough to avoid instances where receiving injury could be evaded.

It wasn't just pain which this individual was able to adapt to, for there were many other things which this person had grown so accustomed that it was actually difficult to faze him. Mind you, it had little to do with sensations; rather what we are referring to here is circumstances which this individual had grown used to. For example; the additional time he was forced to spend in class for supplementary lessons was something which was something he had long since been used to dealing with. Misplacing his lunch for that afternoon was another, along with having to help his teacher tidy up the classroom before he left. Those factors alone were things he had grown used to dealing with, but those examples were things which were common and every person had become so accustomed to doing that it had become routine. Then, of course, we come to the abnormal adaptations which made this particular individual unique in his own way.

By abnormal adaptations, we are of course factoring in situations which were outside of his ability to control. This includes situations such as a cleaning robot malfunctioning and slamming into his knee on his way to school that morning. Another instance was how he dealt with the supernatural traits that made up a number of students within Academy City. To be more specific, how he tended to find Espers and common-place thugs to be less of a threat and more like an annoyance. The latter, oddly enough, was regarded with far more caution than the former; as they tended to bring more to the table than just an ability that could be easily taken care of with his right hand. While not particularly fond of it, situations which could either be harmless and dangerous were things in which he had adjusted to because of one particular factor in regards to him. He was just unlucky, something he had come to accept, and thus he had grown a tolerance in concerns to handling those problematic situations without raising so much of a fuss about it.

One could say that, in exchange for poor luck, he rewarded with a generous amount of compassion for others well-being opposed to his own.

That was just who Kamijou Touma was and, while he may complain about his lack of fortuity, he didn't ever once regret helping another person in need.

It was for this reason that, when he had entered a small chain restaurant to get himself something to eat, he wasn't but so bothered when a waitress had slipped and coated his head and shirt with both cold tea and water. While it was true that he wasn't bothered by accident the waitress had made, he was still startled by the occurrence; thus the reason for his sudden outburst once the cold liquids had unexpectedly doused him. By every right, the boy should have been down-right furious with this odd turn of events. Not a soul in the restaurant would blame him; hell he could hear someone muttering about how he would have already called for the manager for a reimbursement. But, opposing to doing that, the boy had merely waved off the repetitive apologies coming from the flustered waitress; chuckling a bit as he did so.

"Its fine, I'm used to this happening to me." It was a sad fact, but still a truthful one none the less.

So accustomed to these occurrences in fact that, when the waitress had excused herself after cleaning up what little she could, he went back to enjoying his meal without missing a single beat. In his mind, accidents happened and when they happened to someone else things could go in a direction which would not bode well for someone. For if that had to someone else, they would have called for the manager like the person who he had heard muttering not long ago and that girl would have possibly lost her job. He knew the value of money, knew that income was important, and knew that losing your source of income was bound to leave that person in a very problematic situation. Thoughts such as those were the reason why he never acted whenever it involved accidents similar to these, because if he did then it would ultimately cost them in the long run when they had only made a simple mistake. That kind of mindset was what made him unique and, unknown to him, the subject of a lot of attention from the opposite sex.

Bad things happened to him and him alone; who in their right mind wouldn't sympathize with a person like that?

Males didn't apparently, but women tended to; something he didn't quite catch on to and only further irritated a majority of his classmates at times.

But that was a subject for another time.

Having returned to his own meal, he didn't really pay his surroundings much mind until he noticed the shadow which was looming across his table. Having assumed it to be the silhouette of the restaurant manager, he turned his head to address the person only for whatever words that were about to be spoken to die in his throat. There was a very good reason behind this, and that was because the person who was looking down at him was someone whom he honestly wasn't expecting to meet in a place like this. Hell, he was hoping to never meet this particular person again anytime soon. Yet they were standing not even two feet from him with the same amused expression he had seen them bare during the last instance they were in each other's presence.

"Looks like you have advanced from just a common pest and into a drowned rat." The tone was still filled with mirth as one would expect from someone who had witnessed another person's misfortune. Though, that was his assumption in regards as to why she was amused; but this girl was obviously crazy to begin with so that may not have been the real reason behind her enjoyment. "Though, I suppose it's an improvement; at least rodents have their uses."

"…" He may not have had many opportunities to converse to this girl one-on-one since they met, but something in his gut was telling him that these insults were just another one of those things that he would need to grow accustomed to. As such, he didn't even retort to the insult she had made to him, opting instead to sigh as his head dropped harshly down onto the table; his eyes partly shut with irritation and dread being the most dominant emotion being displayed within them. "Fukou-da."

"Oi, quit your groaning." I doubt it needs to be said, but the response Mugino had received was not a particular one she was expecting, nor was it one which she enjoyed. It showed with the way of her right hand had found itself on her hip whilst her left side of her brow twitched in displeasure. "Or is this how you treat everyone you meet?"

"You are the last person who needs to talk about how to greet others." Touma's tone here was flat, his pointing gaze towards the girl in question undoubtedly noticed; though largely ignored by Mugino. "I don't attack or insult people I've met as a greeting."

"Some people do, it's called tough love. Besides, I've told you, I can think of worse ways to greet people."

"….that's true."

Letting out another sigh, the boy rose his head up from its previous position on the table; just in time to note that the girl who took to insulting him had chosen to occupy the seat opposite to him. This, of course, raised warning bells in his mind as to what this girl was planning to do. Was she going to propose to him another challenge? He hoped to the god that usually didn't have his back that he would show mercy and spare him the injustice just this one time. There were enough worries in his life right now than dealing with this fanatical girl who found the thought of blasting him with beams of light to be entertaining. Seriously, Fate, God, whatever it was that controlled the route his life traveled on that they would spare him the future headache.

Seemed that whatever mysterious force guided the world took pity for a change. Because she didn't immediately declare a challenge like he had originally expected. To be honest, her reaction was rather…unexpected with all things considering. Instead of saying anything, she simply placed the bento she had been carrying onto the table, opened up the the container, and began to eat. To be honest, Mugino herself wasn't sure why her appetite had returned to her, but if she was going to sit here, she may as well enjoy the rest of her lunch whilst he ate his as well. Besides, it would be rather awkward to simply sit there and watch him eat and it may very well scare him off.

She didn't want that, not when the opportunity to gain some insight on the subject of her inquisitive mind was sitting right in front of her. Sure, it was an approach that shouldn't have been made in the presence of a potential enemy, but they weren't enemies here; just two common place individuals who were enjoying the afternoon at an eatery. There was nothing strange about that, and plus it did carry some benefits to it as well; socially at least. It at least displayed that she was, on the surface, not too different from your everyday commoner who was interested in the opposite sex. Of course, regardless of if she was performing this action for public image or not, she was still a girl who harbored healthy interests. She swung for the right team, that much there was no doubt, but it most certainly wasn't for someone in Touma's league.

"...What are you doing?" It was a question that was addressed several seconds after she had proceeded to go back to her lunch. Touma, in spite of her current actions, was now growing more and more cautious with what her sudden appearance could imply. Not that he could really be blamed for his concern, for this was the girl who had been hounding him since the moment they met.

"I'm eating, what does it look like I'm doing." Honestly, could this guy be any more dense? Well, okay, she had an ulterior motive but did he really expect her to go and outright admit it? Besides, her motives were relatively harmless, and she really couldn't attack him here in this place without getting other people involved. She could, but doing something like that in broad daylight would be a very difficult task for her backer to sweep under the rug with the amount of witnesses that were present both in and outside the establishment.

"I get that, but I don't think you sat here just to eat lunch and chat." Apparently, he knew better than to be too trusting towards someone who could potentially kill him on a moment's notice, something that she had to mentally applaud him for; he wasn't hopeless after all. "You want something, so what is it?"

"You're being paranoid and its getting annoying." Responded the Mugino, her left hand rising up to brush away some loose bangs from her face as she eyed the boy across from her with a even and unwavering stare. "Just shut the hell up and be grateful for a girl like me to be giving you the time of day."

Defeated and still hungry, Touma couldn't contain himself as he groaned pitifully before going back to his meal, his eyes occasionally drifting upwards to cast a wary glance at the girl across from him. Originally, he was only performing this action out of caution, further adding to the girl's statement about his paranoia. But, during these discreet glances, Touma had come to accept one little factor about this girl that he had no real business to comment on the first place. Mind you, due to the severity of both situations regarding this girl, Touma wasn't given the privilege to admire the girl's appearance as much he could have during either of the instances they had crossed paths. There was just too much going on at the time to really pay those little details much mind, so he really didn't think much of it. But now that she was sitting here across from him with no beams of light being shot at him, Kamijou Touma was finally able to take notice of something that should have already been noted at this point.

This crazed girl, this odd young woman who was seated across from him, was undoubtedly gorgeous looking.

Though, apparently he wasn't as subtle as he imagined himself to be, for the glare that was directed at him made it clear that she had noticed his glances. As a result, Kamijou ceased his previous actions and fully focused on his meal, opting instead to simply ignore her presence for the time being until he could determine what her agenda was. This was, after-all, the girl who had attacked him twice for no justifiable reason in a dark alleyway. Not only that, but someone of her caliber would never willingly sit with someone who was as far below her as he was. He wasn't putting himself down by admitting that, it was just the basic truth of the matter and his luck wasn't that forthcoming in allowing him such a privilege unless there was a catch to it. But, as both parties gradually completed their meals in relative silence, the atmosphere between the two was far too stained for Touma's liking. Sure, he had no real reason to speak to this girl, but just ignoring someone directly across from him wasn't something he was particularly fond of doing. It just didn't sit well with him; even if Mugino's fowl language and insulting remarks towards his character clearly gave him reason enough to overlook her. The fact that he had most likely offended her with his unsavory appearing glances earlier only added to that feeling of guilt for choosing to ignore her.

In moments like these, he blamed his parents for raising him the right way; and blamed his own self for being a kindhearted individual.

"So, um…you eat here often?" Yes, it was poor form of an ice-breaker, but it was much better than asking questions that would possibly direct her thoughts towards another challenge. The subject of conflict or violence was one he was going to do his damn best to avoid at any cost, and if that meant making a fool of himself then so be it.

"No and unless you can think of a better topic to discuss, just keep your mouth shut." Apparently, she too was aware of how dismal his choice of topic was and instead chose to shut that particular object of discussion down as quickly and effectively as possible. But, the thing about it which actually caused Touma to deflate further into his seat was that the girl opposing him had spoken while her gaze remained intent on the her food.

"O-okay then," Let it not be said that Touma wasn't a determined individual when it concerned matters that were of at least some significance. The response she had given was most likely a result of his actions prior to speaking; either that or she was generally a bitch to everyone. The likelihood of the latter was high, but his own actions may have only intensified it further which was the only reason he didn't grow annoyed with how disrespectful her response was. She was justified this time around, this much Touma could freely admit, but that didn't mean he should just shut up and at least try to talk to her a bit. "How about an introduction then?"

"Mugino Shizuri and you are Kamijou Touma." Responded the girl swiftly and without pause as she scooped up another bit or rise with her chop-sticks, her gaze never leaving her bento as she spoke. "There, introductions have now officially been made."

"How do you know my name?" Now all caution was thrown to the wind and curiosity began to mix in with his irritation, the latter of which must have slipped into his tone as Mugino's eyes now adjusted themselves to address the boy across from her; or maybe it was due to his inquiry. "I don't remember ever telling you."

"You didn't need to, I found out who you were quickly thanks that arm of yours." At this, Mugino set her chop-sticks down onto the table beside her bento and propped her head up on the table using her left elbow; seemingly looking bored. "You can thank a recent acquaintance of yours for that."

"Recent acquaintance?"

"Do you have a habit of repeating things back to people who talk to you, or am I just special?"

"I wouldn't be doing it if you weren't being so vague!"

Despite saying this, Mugino gave no real indication that she intended to answer the obvious question which Touma had presented her. Though, even if she really didn't have the intention to answer, something along the edge of her vision became noticeable shortly after the boy's retort had left his lips. While the engagement between herself and this lad was largely unrelated to them, the three remaining girl's who made up ITEM had apparently had their vision locked on to her general location. Having been allured by the sudden interest in the boy whom they had written off as a common delinquent three days prior, all three girl's who occupied the far corner booth were openly staring in her general direction, which caused Mugino herself to click her tongue in annoyance.

Her communing with the boy was none of their business to try and observe; this much should have been clear the moment she removed herself from the table to join the lad in question. As far as they knew, Touma may very well have been a classmate a school whom she was using to maintain that public image; even if that wasn't likely. And even after leveling the far-off table with a glare, none of the girl's made an attempt to avert her gaze, which only further fueled her annoyance at how nosy they were being. Worse yet was that, having grown curious as to what the girl opposite him was glaring at, Touma himself turned to where her line of vision was and found three other familiar faces; two of which he was less than enthusiastic about seeing again. The third, however, was a different story; as it was a face he had recognized even after all the events that had transpired. Takitsubo Rikou, the girl he had bumped into and caught on his way home from school one day.

"Huh, didn't expect to find them here." Mumbled the boy, which caused Mugino to shift her attention away from the table and back towards him. "Are they friends of yours or something?"

"…you could say that." In truth, Mugino didn't particularly view any of the girl's as 'friends', it was more along the lines of them being mere associates and comrades than anything else. Of course, if the event ever called for it, she wouldn't hesitate to do away with any of them should they become a liability to ITEM as a whole. So long as they had their usefulness and did not become a hindrance, she would continue to exploit them for the benefits they bring to the group. But the subject of her opinion towards her colleagues was not important here, as a larger inquiry needed to be addressed. "I take it you're acquainted with all of them?"

"Huh; oh no, I only know who the girl in the track-suit is…kinda hard to forget someone who wears that." To that, Mugino had to agree and thus gave a curt nod in acknowledging that bit of truth in his statemtn. Though, upon making this statement, Touma gave a brief pause after before realization dawned on him and made him look back in the direction that the girl's were sitting; his eyes locked onto Rikou's form who had unexpectedly averted her gaze elsewhere. "….so she's the one that told you."

"Well, it looks like you're not a lost cause after all; there is a brain underneath that thick spiky hair of yours." Was the rather deadpan response which Mugino provided the boy in response once he reached his conclusion. As she said this, Mugino's shaded brown eyes realigned themselves back towards where the rest of ITEM was located, her gaze still appearing quite jaded whilst taking note of how uncomfortable Takitsubo seemed to be while under the Touma's gaze. "Aw, that's cute, she's embarrassed."

"Really?" Doing a double-take, Touma did note how she seemed to be less than willing to meet his gaze, though he really couldn't find a reason as to why she would do so. He wasn't upset with her, though some would argue that he had every right to be considering the trouble she inevitably caused him. But, as stated before, Touma was a compassionate individual and could generally forgive anyone regardless of how large or small the offense was. Some would also call him a fool for it as well, but he never really paid those types of people much mind in the first place. "I mean, I guess I can see where you would think that, but what's there to be embarrassed about."

Shortly after those were spoken, the sound of skin slapping against skin was heard to his immediate left, thus causing the boy to turn to address the noise. What he found instead was Mugino with her hand pressed up against her forehead whilst shaking her head; her expression making it seem like she was suffering from a severe headache. In actuality, she was in pain but a pain which was brought about by how utterly poor Touma's common sense was. Was this really the same boy who had gained her undivided attention for the majority of this week? Could this really be who he was when confronted with a situation outside of combat? This couldn't be the boy whom had gained her interest, this couldn't possibly be the same young man who seeping with determination and confidence who had beaten her. That was the boy she had grown interested in learning about, the teenager whom she wished to fight again and kill. But that boy was not here, this wasn't the person who had unintentionally attained her full attention; for this was just another one of those ignorant fools which she despised at the very core of her being.

For a moment, she honestly wished that those eyes of his would look back at her with the same emotions which gave her chills each time she saw them.

In that moment, she wanted to lash out and drive away the innocence and naivety which was contained within those blue eyes of his.

"…Whatever," Completely unaware of the murderous intentions that were flowing through Mugino's brain in that moment, Touma dismissed his own inquiry once it was clear that Mugino wouldn't answer. "If you want, feel free to call them over."

Apparently, even someone as dense as him could tell when a conversation was going nowhere. This whole interaction which she had imposed wasn't working, not even a little bit really considering the bad-blood between the two of them. Touma knew that much, which was the main reason he wanted to avoid meeting this girl again for a least another month. It was reasonable really, at least in his mind, as by then she would have long forgotten about their little scuffle and, in the event that they did speak one-on-one like this, it would seem considerably less awkward. Mind you, he wasn't the type of person who allowed a first impression to tarnish a person's entire image. Doing such a thing would be a hypocritical thing for him to do, having more often than not been classified as a delinquent when he clearly was not. That being said and knowing how it feels to be unjustly labeled based on first appearances alone, Touma had never jumped to conclusions when it concerned people he had just met.

No, he was the type of person who would observe and try to see every side of an individual as possible before said conclusion was made.

It didn't matter that this girl had attacked him out of the blue twice in a row. The insults, while deterring, were not nearly as hurtful as some of the things he heard being directed at him in the past. So the latter of the two was something easy for him to overlook. The former, however, was something that would have been harder to disregard given how the events had unfolded. But the possibility remained that, in his mind, since she had won that little contest she no longer had a reason to suddenly appear once again like she had in days prior. Anxiety still lingered in his being as he stared back at the girl across from him, but that was understandable and even he would admit it would be a foolish to completely let his guard down around this girl. For that reason, while not particularly fond of the idea personally, having her friends join them would at least put him more at ease.

After all, it was less likely for her to act violently when her friends were likely to get hit in the process.

This was just further proof of how ignorant Touma was in regards to Mugino Shizuri.

Based on the girl's expression, she seemed to be contemplating the idea; her eyes occasionally darting over towards the three girls before returning her attention back to the boy in front of her. To Touma, this was a good sign; unaware that Mugino's actions were for a different reason in particular.

"Tempting offer, but no." Responded the girl finally, having made her decision and causing the Kamijou to practically deflate in his seat. Though, after voicing her decision, she closed the lid on her bento and folding her hands out in front of her face, her elbows practically rooted to the table as she stared back at Touma's form. She did not miss how the subject of her personal interest had suddenly tensed as performed this action, but simply chose not to comment on it. That didn't, however, stop the very thin smirk from forming on her lips as she stared back at him, nor did it stop her from puffing out her chest a bit before she continued speaking. "But, if you're so desperate to get all friendly with them, I have a better proposition for you instead."

"…Huh?"

* * *

One would not be but so inclined to believe that time would pass faster when performing an act which was not particularly appealing to them. If anything, a majority would say that time seemed to pass at such a sluggish pace that one minute would seem to last an eternity. In most cases, this phenomenon occurs during the course of classes in school or to those who worked a part-time job and through repeated glances at the clock. It was a repetitive habit, one not very easy to shake, and the duller the activity the slower time seemed to pass each time they looked at the clock. Although, for a certain individual, he was not partaking in either of these events and was not even paying much attention to the time; but he instinctively knew that time was dragging ass on purpose.

The fact that he was bringing up the rear behind three young women who were openly ignoring his entire presence didn't help much with the matter at hand.

Touma had no real desire to know it, but only thirty minutes had gone by opposed to two hours he assumed had passed him by. In spite of how he originally felt about Mugino's 'proposal' at the café, he now understood to the fullest extent why she had made the suggestion in the first place. The premise behind accompanying them in the first place was simple enough; she had set out to buy a replacement phone since the one she originally owned had been damaged shortly after their little scuffle; his inquiry as to how it had been damaged largely going unanswered. Having informed him of where she was going to buy her new mobile device from, he concluded that he could at the least spare the time to accompany the girls since the establishment she was going to wasn't too far away from his dorm; thus he agreed to the proposal.

As it turned out, Mugino had neglected to mention that they were making several stops along the way to do some additional shopping once they arrived in the underground mall where she was to retrieve her phone. The end result of this undisclosed information had lead to Touma officially becoming the group's pack mule; as the majority of his arms were covered in various shopping bags filled with god-knew what. It didn't help that the girls had chosen typical shops to visit on their way; mainly focusing in shops which contained some fairly high-dollar attire. This factor wouldn't be so bad had he not seen precisely how expensive some of the things on display were priced at, some of which honestly made him recoil out of sheer disbelief.

Seriously, there was a blouse in one store that cost more yen than he received in a whole month!

A.

Fucking.

Blouse!

Given, after witnessing the crazed girl with tea colored hair coming out of the dressing room wearing it, the article of clothing certainly looked like it was worth the price for it. Even still though, an article of clothing costing that much was not something Touma would ever dream of doing with his limited budget. He got by with the bare minimum and he was just fine with that. If it fit and looked appealing enough, he would be fine with anything so long as it was at a reasonable price. But after witnessing first-hand how carelessly these girls spent their money on these things, Touma was reminded of the grim reality that, unlike these girls, he was only a middle-class individual. It didn't help that with each placed they stopped at, one of the four girls would find something to use as a means to further emphasize their status above him. Whether this action was performed intentionally to undermine him or not could not really be said; though he had a sneaking suspicion that they were in fact doing it on purpose.

As previously stated, however, not every member of the group of girls ignored him entirely. One had chosen to fall back and walk directly beside him to his right. This particular person had a reason to not ignore him, though said person wasn't the one whom he would have preferred to provide him company. The girl's who were currently in front of himself and the person beside him were Mugino, the blonde named Frenda Seivelun, and Takitsubo Rikou; with Frenda taking up Mugino's left with Takitsubo to her right. That left him with the fourth and final member of this little girl squad, Kinuhata Saiai, to keep him company. Though, as previously stated, his companion wasn't the one he would have preferred. The feeling was mutual though, as the girl in question had confirmed that she wasn't keeping him company out of the goodness of her heart.

"I super don't trust you with our things." She had stated after falling back to walk side-by-side with him as they were leaving their first of many shops of this shopping spree. "You're a stranger to me, so I'm super not leaving you with our underwear."

Needless to say, he was both mortified to know what one of these bags contained and at the same time annoyed him that the girl was still skeptical of him based solely on his appearance. It also went without saying that, because of that little remark, neither of the two had traded more than a few words back and forth between each other; with the most common statement being made was her telling him to pick up his pace. By this point, after visiting several stores in this particular stretch of shops, Kamijou was more or less had both of his arms covered in paper-bag handles as they swayed from side to side with each step he took. He was thankful enough to note that they hardly had any weight to them, otherwise he very well would have complained and threw caution to the wind in regards to provoking Mugino to doing something irrational in public. Having been the victim of her attacks in the open streets earlier this week, there was little doubt in his mind that, if he were to provoke her, she would not hesitate to use that strange ability of her's with the full intention to inflict harm on his person regardless of their surroundings.

He wasn't going to give her the excuse she needed to carry out that task, not even if he it meant him being treated as a pack mule until she was satisfied with her purchases. Just because he wasn't willing to allow such an event from occurring, however, didn't mean he was particularly thrilled by this turn of events either.

"Didn't you come here to get a phone?" Which was why this particular thought slipped out from his lips as he almost lifelessly followed behind the group; his half-lidded eyes sullenly staring at the back of Mugino's head as they all continued further into the underground mall.

His words, thankfully, had fallen onto deaf ears as the group approached yet another high-end apparel store; which would have caused the sole male to lower his shoulders further if it they weren't already. Just from the initial glance, he could already assume that most of the attire inside were brand-name items; meaning that just about everything in there would cost more than he would be willing to pay for clothing. Though, as they came closer, he was at least surprised to find that it wasn't a store that focused on only one sex. Bear in mind that this wasn't the first store that they had come to which sold items suitable for both genders, it was just that these girl's typically focused on shops that only specified for them. In saying that, Touma himself had chosen to remain outside those particular stores and simply wait until they completed their browsing and came out. Touma very well could have used those instances to just leave the girls and head home like he intended; hell he was tempted to it at this very moment. But they had done a good job at keeping him around thanks to the fact that he was being forced into carrying their recently bought possessions on his person.

The part that annoyed him most was that, after exiting the establishment, Kinuhata would check the contents of each bag to ensure that nothing was missing. At the very least she stopped performing that particular action after their third or fourth stop; having claimed that it was too tedious a task to perform. That didn't mean her skepticism towards him was gone but every victory counted at this point; regardless of how big or small it was.

Having said all of this, once it was clear that there was something he could actually do this time around, he chose to at least browse a bit himself; even if he wouldn't be able to afford anything in particular. As he proceeded to do so, leaving the rest to do as they pleased for the time being, someone in particular appeared to have wanted his attention. For Touma's attention shifted upon feeling something tugging on the loose fabric of his shirt, which lead him facing the track-suit wearing young girl who appeared to be gazing at him with the same dazed expression he had noticed her having the last time they had met.

"Kamijou-san…" Addressed the girl in a dreary tone that suited her dazed expression.

"Ah, Takitsubo-san, did you need something?" In spite of his state of being prior to entering the shop, the teenager's tone was lighthearted as ever, having already reached the assumption that Rikou was the nicer one of the bunch he was currently stuck with.

Said girl didn't respond immediately, instead she looked puzzled for some reason or another; what had perplexed her nobody save for her would know. Touma himself really couldn't explain precisely what was running through those dark sphere's of hers as she gazed blankly back up at him, their height difference only now being truly noticeable. Despite the silence between them, Kamijou simply stood patiently as he allowed her the means to sort out whatever it was she was contemplating, with the only action which he had taken since being to turn around fully to address her appropriately.

To Rikou, however, many thoughts swam through her mind in such a rapid pace that it was almost disorienting. She had intended to gain his attention and apologize to him, apologize for distributing his information. She had felt guilty of the incident during the day in which it occurred; but those thoughts of remorse and regret had been purged from her mind as the days passed. She thought it would be fleeting and she was correct to an extent; when the living pass on the guilt would eventually fade into memory and thus forgotten within a short period of time. But Kamijou had not died, he was standing in front of her at this very moment, and yet she could see no malice or distain in those eyes as he peered down at her. They weren't eyes filled with anger or anything negative of the sort; that had been more than enough to catch her immediate attention. Of course, the possibility remained that he was merely putting up an image to disguise his true intentions or thoughts. It wasn't as far-fetched as some may believe, but the amount of sincerity that lay within those sapphire orbs of his had effectively left her a state of doubt.

She didn't know if this was all just a feint or if he was genuinely a kindhearted person. Pretending to be someone else wasn't hard and Rikou knew firsthand how true that statement could be. If proof was needed, all she would need to do is point at Mugino and one could have enough evidence to put away any convict no matter how much money he spent on a lawyer. But could she make the same conclusion about someone like this person before her? Could she really just assume he would accept her apology without triggering one of those negative emotions? Though, in retrospect, one would think she was over speculating this whole occurrence to a degree that wasn't necessary. They would be correct under normal circumstances, but the over speculation was justified given the fact that Mugino very well killed the person in front of her without hesitation.

There was no simple or easy way of being pardoned for something like that without feeling the repercussions from her actions. It was for that reason which had made this self-imposed task far more difficult to accomplish than it originally anticipated.

"Um, Takitsubo-san?" Now Touma seemed worried, as the girl in question was refusing to speak in spite of already being addressed by him twice now. "Is everything alright?"

No, she deduced, nothing was ever going to be alright; hence her silence. She couldn't ask for this boy's forgiveness, not now and certainly not anytime soon. She didn't deserve that and, as much as she had grown to disregard trivial matters such as these, she doubted she would ever deserve this person's amnesty. Perhaps it was best for her this way, maybe this only further proved that the darkness was where she really did belong in this world. Someone like Touma, who was oblivious to the world which ITEM lived in, had no business to forgive someone who's soul was so deeply immersed in the muck that made up this city.

"…never mind."

She had no delusions that Kamijou's eyes followed after her as she walked away to exit the store and wait for the rest of ITEM outside. Takitsubo was not unaware that her actions may have created unrest in the boy's mind as she left him behind. She was not naive enough to believe that all of her thoughts were untrue; she knew just as the rest that her thoughts were undoubtedly the absolute truth. It all came down to the matter of coming to terms with that truth for what it was.

That truth being that Takitsubo Rikou, along with the rest of ITEM, was far past the point of being forgiven for the things in which she had done.

* * *

Welcome to the bottom, glad you could make it.

Now, I think an explanation is in order considering how this chapter most likely played out in a direction most of you expected it to go. The first portion of this chapter, at the restaurant, was mainly just to show just how...awkward it is for both parties. If you were expecting there to be insults flown about and laser beams going every which way, sorry. I just don't see her doing that out in public unless she's really, truly, pissed off about something. Also, I felt that the lack of dialog kinda keeps that whole 'bad-blood' air about the two of them that properly displays the tension that's still present between them.

As for the second half of this chapter, that part was just the only real way I could think of to have ITEM and Touma interact with each other to a greater extent than if I were to just have them converse out in the streets. That and I kinda left Touma completely out of the scene last chapter and this was to hopefully make up for him missing out last chapter. Though, I will admit not much was going on in the second half of this chapter, so all I can really say is that the next chapter will amend this one's lack of dialog. I can also say that you'll see more conversations between Touma and the other members of ITEM as well.

As usual, if there are any inquiries, thoughts, or concerns that arise in your mind, feel free to address them to me and I'll do what I can to answer them. Otherwise, I hope you enjoyed my little piece of work.

Goodbye for now.


	8. The Eleventh of May Part 2

Greetings to all!

Next chapters out for your viewing pleasure. Though, the chapter is a bit longer than I'd like it to be, but my quota and the amount of things this chapter needed to be put in didn't agree with each other. Turns out length ended up winning the arm-wrestling contest; thus the reason behind the longer chapter length. But, enough of that, onward with chapter eight of A Certain World of Darkness.

* * *

Frenda Seivelun wasn't by any means your average, humdrum girl who lived within the boundaries of Academy City's walls. To be honest, that deduction was obvious based on her natural blonde hair, her light blue eyes, and her unusual state of dress. Looking at her, anyone would automatically come to the conclusion that she wasn't a native to Japan and was a foreigner to these lands. Even when she spoke one would note that it was distinctly different than your average Japanese female; so the knowledge of her origins would not be difficult to deduce. Of course, if was to only view her at face value and not peer any deeper into the matter, those factors could easily be over-looked considering she was from overseas. It was just one of those things that aren't really commented on since a majority of the populous was largely unaware of the customs of other countries.

But, aside from the eccentric behavior that was often on display by this girl, there was the part of her which few knew about and even fewer would ever live to tell had they known. Frenda was a killer, plain and simple as that. If someone was to die at her hands, it just meant that the fate dictated that their lives were to end and she was simply carrying out the task herself. That was her belief, that was how she had decided to justify her actions long ago and it had remained as such to this very day. Did she enjoy killing? Who's to say except for her, but one thing that can be answered is that she most certainly didn't want to die during whatever task was assigned to them. That was a statement that went without saying, as nobody wished to die unless the circumstances were so unbearable that death was the only option left to escape suffering.

But by having that instinctual desire to survive whilst baring her own beliefs in regards to killing others, did that make her a narrow-minded?

She never pondered it, never chose to bother with that line of thinking, but in a way it may as well have made her just that.

If we were to follow that train of thought, it can be safe to assume that there were times where Frenda would say and do things which often went against what was expected of her. These things are not uncommon, as humanity as a whole is far from perfect; in spite of all Academy City has done in an attempt to achieve perfection. However, while acceptable in more common scenarios, Frenda had a rather bad habit of having these instances occur more often than not.

Usually, these said instances would surface during the tasks which ITEM was assigned to do; mainly in the form of her negligence in the heat of battle or simply overlook certain factors which may or may not create an issue for her companions on the job. It was a problem that typically resulted in a less than satisfactory 'chat' from Mugino once the job was over and her punishment would be received shortly after. It was meant to help her learn from her mistakes to avoid having them occur in the future; but it never stuck to the blonde and only resulted in a more severe reprimanding from the girl afterwards.

Still, the blonde girl wasn't a complete loss and would eventually become what she was today thanks to all those past mistakes; it was just a matter of experience.

With all that being said, when faced with a situation far too outside of the norm for her, it was to be expected for Frenda to make a mistake somewhere along the line.

"Basically, what's your relationship with Mugino?" That simple question, that straightforward inquiry which the girl had presented about the girl in question, was directed towards the foreign individual that was currently accompanying ITEM through the underground mall.

"Wh-what?" The aforementioned foreign individual, who was originally staring out into space as the girl's continued their little shopping spree, sputtered as he was address with a question which by all accounts shouldn't have been asked to him.

Seriously, where the hell did that question come from!?

"Basically, who are you to her and why are you with us."

Her face may have done its part to remain mostly neutral when she had addressed this simplistic inquiry, but the tone which Frenda's voice had chosen didn't quite match the expression she was wearing. It wasn't one that could be perceived as aggressive, it was more along the lines of someone who was just driven to ask that question purely on impulse while lacking any sort of subtly starting up the topic of discussion regardless of how outlandish it was.

Basically, it was a question asked so out of the blue, yet brought up in such casual manner that most would find themselves caught off-guard by it.

Touma was certainly caught off by it, as he couldn't help but stare back at the blonde; the look in his eyes displaying just how lost he apparently was by the abruptness of this particular subject. It was difficult to blame him really, having chosen to step outside the store and wait for the rest after browsing his share inside. He had intended to join Rikou who had walked out of the shop shortly before he did, but chose to go against that idea and sat by himself instead. He still doubted that whatever was bothering her would be amended by his presence, and imposing on her wasn't going to make her speak up in whatever it was that bothered her. So, he didn't put too much thought into it and just kept to himself. It would have remained that way had Frenda not chosen to join them outside and practically made a bee-line for his location; thus resulting in the situation he had currently found himself in.

"W-well…" For Touma, this was a rather difficult situation which he wasn't really sure how to handle. Sure, he could tell the truth and say that he was acting as living target practice dummy since that had been his interpretation regarding how she viewed him. It wouldn't have been too inaccurate of a statement honestly, but Kamijou really wasn't one to ruin another person's image based on what little he actually knew about a person. Given that these girl's seem far better acquainted with her than he was, saying the wrong thing may very well lead to a more troublesome situation which he really didn't wish to find himself stuck in at the moment. It was bad enough that Mugino knew who he was; having three of her friends pissed off at him would only make things worse in the long run if he wasn't careful. "I-it's complicated…"

"How complicated?" Regarded the girl, folding her arms under her less-than-noteworthy chest while staring back at the boy who was becoming more trouble than he was worth. "Basically, it's a simple question; so stop stalling and answer already."

"A simple question to you maybe" Muttered the boy, sighing shortly afterwards as he gathered his thoughts to provide the girl a suitable answer. Though, Frenda must have heard him, because her eyes suddenly narrowed and the edges of her lips began to descend downwards. With little time to properly think of an answer that would appease her, he took to saying the first thing that came to mind and nothing short of that. "W-we're just acquaintances, that's all and I only tagged along because she asked me to."

"Just an acquaintance, huh?" Though he was already well aware of it, Frenda skepticism regarding Touma made it painfully difficult for anything he said to be believable. The fact that she head leaned forward a bit too close to his face to be comfortable with didn't help matters in lowering her suspicions towards him; his eyes refusing to meet with her own as she peered at him at their close proximity. "Basically, you're saying she's a friend of yours or something?"

"…calling us friends is stretching it a bit..."

"I thought as much, but it basically doesn't tell me why she would give you the time of day." As she made this statement, the beginnings of a less than appealing grin began to form on her lips as she stared haughty at the boy who was seated in front of her, her blue eyes seemingly brimming with an emotion Kamijou didn't particularly want to place. "Basically, you really stand out hanging around someone like Mugino."

"I'm aware of that more than you know." Grumbled the spiky haired youth, both his tone and his expression clearly displaying his feeling in regards to being reminded of that little fact. If anything, it bummed him out more so than being on the end of every single one of the girl's taunts or insults each time she regarded him. None the less, he was slowly getting used to it, but at the moment something else was in need of being addressed which was honestly making him self-conscious. "…also could you, um, back up a bit?"

"Why?"

"Because, people are starting to stare at us."

The instant those words left his lips, Frenda's whole demeanor shifted in a far different direction compared to the one he had been currently witnessing. It was as if someone had hit a panic button in her brain, as her eyes suddenly were filled with realization as her bottom lip was sucked into the confines of her mouth. Though her body remained in its previous position, her head had turned to address those who were supposedly staring at them. As it turned out, Touma's statement was valid, as there were in fact people looking at the two of them and whispering among themselves. One person in particular, however, stood out the most amidst the people looking at them; as the out-of-place individual was openly gaping at the two of them while her eyes seemed to sparkle for reasons that neither Touma nor Frenda could understand.

The situation only grew more uncomfortable when the girl who looked to be a track runner made a dismissive gesture with her hand, a small mischievous smile present on her lips before making a very compelling statement.

"Khehehe, we don't exist in your world; so ignore all of us and kiss already."

Kamijou didn't know what had happened; one minute he was fine the next a blinding pain shot from his head all the way down to his toes. From where he was currently seated, which was practically on the ground as there were no benches in the immediate area, there was nothing but a pure concrete wall directly behind his person. Having said that, we may all agree that having one's head slammed harshly onto that solid of a surface can indeed be painful on a person. Of course, Touma himself wouldn't have willingly performed such an action on himself as such a thing was not particularly beneficial to one's health. Frenda, on the other hand, had very little reason to care about someone else's health problems. Hence the reason why, upon hearing that on-looker's statement, she had quickly reached both of her hands out and took a firm grasp of Touma's head; using it as a means to straighten herself back to a normal standing position.

She had of course released him once the momentum of her initial push would straighten her posture, but that only made her actions that much harsher on the spiky haired teenager who was currently grasping the back of his head with tears threatening to spill from the corners of his eyes. Frenda, however, didn't much care about his obvious pain and was currently occupied with the task of glaring down at him whilst her bottom lip still remained tucked inside her mouth; her cheeks lightly flushed with a healthy shade of red as she did so. Had it not been for the throbbing ache in the back of his head, Touma may have found the girl's current expression pretty cute. But, that was not the case at the moment; busy as he was clutching the back of his cranium while sitting on the ground hunched over.

"You're paying for this." Growled out the blonde, her annoyance justified but her method of dealing with the issue being unjust. "Basically, this misunderstanding is your fault so you are taking responsibility for it."

"How is it my fault!?" Retorted Touma, still clutching his head as his head shot up to glare back at the blonde who was accusing him of something he had no control over. "You're the one who-"

"Basically, I don't want to hear excuses!"

"I'm not making excuses; I'm trying to state facts!"

"Ah, a lover's squabble; they must really be-"

"YOU BE QUIET!" This particular statement was not made only by one party alone. In fact, both had temporarily put aside the minor issue to address the much larger one with a synchronized act of pointing in the track-runner's direction and by shouting this statement simultaneously. It is here which proves that, when the situation calls for it, even the most unlikely of people can come together to tackle a larger threat as one. Even if the truce was temporary, it was still more effective to tackle the problem with help than to simply let it escalate further. The effectiveness of this action was further proven when, upon being addressed in such a overly direct manner, the girl chose to run off; though her lighthearted chuckles were still somehow able to be heard by both the blonde and the spiky haired teen that had addressed her.

With the initial threat now removed from the scene, Frenda was quick to return her attention back onto the person whom, she believed, was the true cause of the problem in the first place. Touma himself was also back to glaring at the girl who, he _**knew**_,was the cause behind the knot that had begun to rise from the back of his head. Neither party had chosen to verbally thrash at the other, one to prevent any other misunderstandings and the other out of not too inclined to care unless it was to defend themselves. That being said, both parties merely glared back at each other in silence, before finally broken from their heated glaring competition by someone who had chosen to finally enter the fray.

"Seem like you two are getting along." Both Frenda and Touma's head shot in the direction of the voice, finding Mugino standing by the entrance to the store with only her purse; indicating that she had bought nothing inside. As she spoke those words, her impassive gaze never lingered too long on either party whilst her posture further indicated that she wasn't at all interested in the eccentric behavior coming from either person she was looking at. "Even so, keep you damn voices down; I could hear you both from the back of the store."

"It's super like I said before; leaving him alone with any of us for long isn't the best idea." The additional comment was provided by Kinuhata, who chosen then to lean out from behind Mugino's form to peer at Touma from a distance. Despite the comment, the girl's eyes held a mischievous glint within them, something which all parties currently looking at her could identify through just a fleeting glance.

"What is that supposed to mean!" Snapped the boy behind Kinuhata's comment, choosing to forgo his original argument with Frenda for the time being and focus his attention on the girl who had spoken out. "And stop making me out to be some skirt-chaser!"

"I never said you were; so that's just you super admitting to being just that."

"Well, I'm not, and the only reason I said it is because I knew that's what you were implying!"

"Face the facts, all guys are super skirt-chasers. Don't think I haven't caught you stealing glances at us in the stores."

"I was doing that to see if you three were done or not!"

"Basically, you're a pervert." Muttered Frenda, choosing now to re-enter the conversation since the object of her irritation was getting what, in her opinion, he deserved. Though, instead of making this brief statement in Japanese, Frenda chose to make the statement in French, thus erecting a puzzled expression from Kamijou as he did not understand the language used.

"…what did you say?"

"Basically, you're a pervert." Though he received a translation, it wasn't the originator of the statement who had answered his question. Rather, it was Mugino who still appeared to be looking quite bored with this entire situation; her expression still impassive as it was before but with faint traces of humor dancing in her shaded brown eyes as she surveyed the boy who was looking back at her. "Personally, I'd prefer womanizer than anything else."

"Basically, you're a scum-bag."

"…I don't understand a word your saying, but I can tell it's hurtful."

Honestly, Touma wanted to nothing more than to just leave now after having so many of these women gang up on him with their taunts and false accusations towards his character. Really now, it was like they were intent on trying to demean him in every possible manner they could think of. They already showed him the different in terms of funds and class; now they were tearing him to pieces just because of his gender. Sure, he was a typical teenage young man and he had his moments in time where he would act like a typical male would. Everyone was like that, there was no escaping it and no denying it at all. But just because he had those impulses did not imply that he always acted on them whenever it surfaced. He was plenty capable of restraining himself from those urges, and that same amount of restraint could have been noted even now as he simply hung his head from his seated position on the ground.

He was a gentleman at heart, but it was hard for a lot of people to see that when you're constantly belittled based on how you look.

"Enough chit-chat, let's get going." Was the statement which put an end to the escapade which had come from Mugino as she swiftly walked passed the distraught young man, flanked by both Frenda and Kinuhata as she moved towards their next destination. When Touma had failed to move from his previous position, the girl who had made the statement had forced herself to stop for a brief moment to shift her attention back towards him, her expression clearly marking her annoyance. "Ka…mi…jou…"

"Yeah, yeah, Ojou-sama; I'm coming." Responded the boy, letting out a louder than necessary sigh as he rose back to his feet once the girl's warning was had reached his ears. At this point, all he could do now was simply do what he was tasked to do and do his absolute best to blend into the background; less any one of these girls try to find something else to use as ammo for their taunting. As he began to adjust the bags on his arms, a familiar tug on his clothes indicated that a certain someone was seeking his attention. With his gaze shifting over towards the person in question, curious blue eyes met with unfocused brown as the individual in question stared back at him. "Takitsubo-san?"

"Don't worry, Kamijou-san." Assured the girl, her gaze remaining unfocused as her hand reached out and took a number of the bags dangling off the boy's arms and slid them off; her left hand now carrying several of the shopping bags in her clinched fist as she completed her statement. "I'll support you…"

It was said somewhere in time that every cloud has a silver lining to it. For every bad situation that occurred there was always at least some good aspect to that situation that can be viewed in a positive light. While it could sometimes be hard to notice those aspects, and sometimes it may very well be impossible to see, there was always a positive factor which would act as a means to counteract all the negatives that came before or after it. Though that optimist viewpoint was sometimes considered to be imprudent, one could not deny that it was a much better way to deal with the hardships of life than to view every negative occurrence without paying attention at all to the good things that came with it.

With the way Touma's life was littered with misfortune, one would think it would be difficult to remain optimistic; but that couldn't have been any further from the truth. In fact, in spite of all his complaining, Kamijou was usually thankful for his misfortune as it meant that no one else would suffer the same ill fate that he did. This way of thinking wasn't limited to just his misfortune, but for every bad situation that occurred, as he was always able to find something good amidst it all. When it came to this particular situation, Kamijou could do nothing but give the quiet girt a lopsided smile in response to her statement, having found the one piece of good that had presented itself to him. While it may have already been said somewhere, may have been a fact he was already aware of, but his current thoughts in regards to this girl remained relatively the same since they had first met.

Takitsubo Rikou, despite what she told herself, was indeed a good person at heart.

"Even if you are a womanizer."

Then again, maybe this was just one of those really, _**really**_, bad days.

"Stop saying that!"

* * *

The underground shopping center in District 7 was, in more ways than one, a rather large hassle to deal with on certain occasions. For one thing, the place was typically bustling with students who took to going there once classes were over and their schedules permitted them to do so. The reason for its popularity was mainly for how convenient it was to enter since many entrances to the underground streets of this district were scattered about everywhere. Not only that but, due to the long stretch of restaurants, arcades, karaoke bars, and many other noteworthy establishments, coming to this place ideal rather than the crowded sidewalks above ground. It was just more enticing to simply head down a flight of stairs and instantly find something that worth investing your time with than to be above and run the risk of someone dragging you into an alley to mug you. Though most people weren't thinking along those lines as they entered the shopping center; being either too ignorant of the very real dangers in life or too delusional to believe it could ever happen to them.

Either way, the fact still stands that the underground mall was crowded as hell after school sessions were over. It didn't help that today was only half-a-day's worth of lessons before classes ended.

Another fact about this shopping center was that, unless you knew exactly where you were going or looked at the shopping center map, the place was a damn maze. One moment you may find yourself near the school dorms and half an hour later you'll resurface to find out you're near the center of the district. It was maddening if you didn't know where you were going, having to take into account precisely where you are in both the mall and within the district. Believe it or not, the task was not as easy as one would think given how vast the place was, along with how easy it was to become sidetracked by all the establishments that would easily make one lose track of their location.

But for some, the task was considerably easy when there was very little to distract them from being aware of their exact location.

Such was the case for a certain young man who could be found in a frequently visited music store. The store itself was vast, rows upon rows of music from the latest releases to the most outdated works of the time. Various genres of music were sold here; from the most popular mainstream works to the classics that typically went un-purchased due to lack of interest by the youth. Though, the establishment didn't only sell albums, as a section to the side of the store held head-phones, ear-pieces, and other devises for customers to buy. Factoring in that several areas between the rows of albums stood headphones to use for previewing the album you were interested in and you pretty much have the ideal image for a typical music store.

This youth, however, wasn't here with the intent to purchase something; in fact he was here for an entirely different reason. Said youth was currently sifting through albums with his fingers, occasionally appearing to be interested in one before putting it aside for the time being and continuing on down the row. Though, if one were to look into his eyes, they would find that they seemed fairly unfocused; clearly indicating that nothing which was here was of any significance to him at all. So what was his purpose here then if he wasn't interested in anything he was looking at? That question would have been raised had someone taken notice to it, but that was thankfully not the case here.

That changed when the deadpan look in his gaze suddenly vanished; though his expression changed very little. A few moments after this sudden change had occurred, the young man calmly made his way over towards the set of ear-covering headphones and slipped them over his head. After selecting his choice of music he wished to preview, the boy's hand rose to adjust the audio settings down so low that the he may as well have muted the volume altogether.

(You know, your tardiness is becoming a real hassle lately Chouka.)

To the common-place individual, it would appear as though the teen in question was simply listening to music. The image was further proven as his lips didn't so much as twitch as he stood in place whilst his fingers shifted the CD cases around his person; his eyes once more shifting back into the lifeless pools of caramel brown. Though, even if he couldn't see the person in question, he could somehow imagine her appearing sheepish at the non-verbal statement he had made.

(Khehehe, sorry about that Kurou-kun.)

Several stores away, a certain girl who looked to be a track runner was indeed looking sheepish; something which would have disturbed some who would have been looking directly at her person. Her location was, fittingly enough, in a sports oriented store that primarily focused in footwear. The products were focused in nearly any sport-related activity that came to mind; thus the reason she was currently crouched down 'analyzing' a rather nice looking set of spike shoes on the bottom shelf.

(Oh, sure, apologize to him and not everyone else you've kept waiting.)

This particular person, attest to the aforementioned parties, was actually located above ground in a small lounge with a laptop in front of his person and a plastic cup of hot-coffee in his hand. Similar to Chouka, he too was rather expressive with his thoughts if the displeased scowl wasn't a large enough indicator.

(Be nice Sakurai.)

This particular person was far calmer and less mature sounding than the previously mentioned individuals. Said person wasn't alone either, as their identical twin was seated next to them happily snacking on a smoothie; the speaker in question also indulging on a frozen treat of their own on a park bench next to a random vender. Their position was diagonally across from the lounge which Sakurai was located, though their backs were purposely facing away from that establishment. Neither twin looked to have a care in the world, and rightfully so considering how they didn't necessarily need to do anything.

Upon being addressed by the twins, Sakurai merely clicked his tongue as he continued to examine the text on the screen of his laptop. In all seriousness, it should have been expected for Chouka to be the last person to check in amongst the five of them. He personally found it a very annoying habit of hers that ORDER could do without; but everyone was entitled to their own little quirks. That being said, it was a tolerable habit so long as it didn't hinder too heavily on their objectives during a job.

(...I said I was sorry…)

Apparently, a few additional thoughts had slipped through the mental link.

(OI! SAKURAI, STOP MAKING CHOU-CHAN FEEL BAD!)

The well-dressed male couldn't help but recoil slightly at the mental back-lash that was directed at his person. Thankfully, he had placed his coffee back on the table; otherwise a less than favorable situation may have occurred because of it. Fortunately, he wasn't the only one who felt it, as Chouka and Kurou also felt it as well, the former nearly jumping up from her crouched position out of surprise and the latter appearing quite uncomfortable as he gripped the side of his head in obvious pain.

(Noboro…)

(S-sorry.)

Letting out a sigh, Kurou raised his hand to switch to a different album preview on the limited selection provided. As he did this, the lifelessness in his eyes settled into a more composed one as he decided to get down to business.

(Is the information useful Sakurai?)

As subtle as it was, all participants who were current 'connected' bore a noticeable change opposed to how they were prior to this inquiry. They didn't need to look at each other to know that the situation was now a serious one with little time for idol conversation or petty squabbles. Now it was all business, no jokes, no riff-raff, and very little time to waste. Even the twins who appeared quite satisfied with themselves appeared to have lost a bit of the radiance that came with the innocence they portrayed. No matter the perspective, it was clear as day that something had been aroused from its slumber within each of these five individuals. From this point onward, they weren't students or innocent bystanders anymore; they were professionals who worked in the gritty underworld that made up this city of lights.

At this very moment, ORDER was officially clocked in as workers within the dark.

(I'll give our benefactor some credit; he wasn't as dumb as I pegged him to be. It'll take a little while, but most of the information will be accessible in less than an hour.) Responded the young man, sipping on his coffee as the screen in front of him began to decrypt the information being processed. (Shame this was on such short notice; I could have gotten a professional hacker to do this for me instead.)

(Can you get it done any faster?) This inquiry was made by Chouka, who had altered her position towards a different row that was facing away from the entrance to the shop.

(I'm no miracle worker, but I'll see what I can do.)

(How did things on your end go then Kurou?)

(I have the general layout for the exterior; interior wise I'm clueless.) Responded the teen, having removed the headphones and returned to sifting through CDs prior to the girl's appearance. (We need to handle this delicately, otherwise this whole operation will end up blowing up in our faces, you know?)

(Are we splitting up then?) The concern in Noboro's voice was not missed by anyone who was listening. Clearly the thought itself wasn't all that appealing to him, something which anyone with half a brain could deduce based on the way he sounded.

(That seems like our best option.) Concluded Sakurai, his fingers dancing across the keyboard while his eyes never once left his monitor. (Dividing the work would make this whole thing easier if we do it right.)

(You know they aren't going to take this whole thing lying down.) Interjected Chouka, her expression darkening after hearing Kurou's previous statement. (Some outside party's gonna get involved no matter how careful we are.)

(You know, that's precisely the reason why we need to do this quickly.) Responded Kurou, his expression remaining unchanged as he moved away from the rows of CDs and instead making a bee-line for the headphones hanging on the walls along the front of the store. (I take it you'll be going on your own Sakurai?)

(That would be ideal.) Confirmed the well-groomed lad, taking another sip of his coffee before sparing a glance at the sky above. (The sun will start setting soon; if we're going to do this then we need to get moving. Keep your phone's on and I'll send the information over to you all when everything's done.)

(Then it's settled; until Sakurai's done we'll proceed with the final preparations. The minute he's done, we'll begin.)

With that final statement made, the connection between the five members of ORDER was severed. With the mental conference completed, Kurou's hand quickly took a hold of the plastic package of a rather expensive set of headphones that were on the display. They were a bit pricy for his tastes, but he was improvising at this point given the circumstances. With the amount of delicacy this whole situation, he couldn't really afford to be picky in regards of selection. After paying for the headphones, the lad dressed in casual-wear simply exited the store and disappeared into the surrounding crowd.

Throughout this, his left hand remained within the confines of his pocket; clutching the hard plastic of his cell-phone as if it was his only lifeline in the world.

* * *

Mugino Shizuri was accustomed to a lot of things most people generally weren't meant to grow used to. Death was as common as breathing in her world, as was the smell of burnt flesh and the feel of blood on her hands. In many ways, she could be considered unflappable, immune to many sick and twisted things that went on behind the veil of light which Academy City did its best to maintain. She understood the reasoning behind it, as it was difficult not to considering what she knew. Had the rest of the occupants of this city become aware of the happenings behind their perfect little worlds, she would surely bear witness to so much anger and chaos aimed in no particular direction. Such a catastrophe would no doubt leave the massive city in ruins along with its reputation for all the twisted experiments that go on within its walls. That being said, of the many jobs she and the other members of ITEM had been tasked with, it could be assumed that it took a lot to really phase any of these girl's when it came to the terrible happenings that occur here.

But that little bit of information only portrayed to the less ordinary events that occur in the underground. When out and about, there were some things which Mugino may or may not be used to dealing with.

"I basically think we should just ditch that guy and move on." Frenda's complaints were admittedly something she was used to dealing with. Well, Mugino didn't particularly do anything to settle whatever the blonde's problem was and elected instead to simply ignore her.

As it stood, both her, Kinuhata, and Frenda were currently seated at a table in a within the center of a long chain of fast-food restaurants, though none of the girl's present appeared to have ordered anything. The table was vacant aside from the multiple shopping bags which Touma had been carrying until this point. The total number of bags was minor to say the least, though that was mainly because they had started to store several of their purchases within other bags to limit the number which had to be carried at one time.

That action was not done out of kindness towards Touma, mind you. The reason for this action was because of Rikou deciding to assist their little carrier with his task. THe boy was, of course, ridiculed for having her helping him; but that was put to an end when the girl had spoken up on his behalf. It didn't silence them all completely, though mainly it was Frenda and Kinuhata who spoke out against the lad, but it at least reduced the amount of taunts being directed at him. Kamijou himself didn't really say much in terms of thanking her, but that was possibly due to the fact that he didn't want to provoke anymore comments from either of the aforementioned girls.

No sooner had Takitsubo decided to aid the boy did Mugino decide to finally stop and purchase a replacement phone. The task itself didn't take long, nor did it appease Kamijou in the slightest to know that he was basically being carted around when he claimed to have seen the same store a number of times in passing. His annoyance, however, largely went unheard as did everything else he had said during their time here; having opted instead to tinker with her new mobile device whilst they walked.

Interesting enough, despite all his complaints, when the food court came into vision he suggested making the stop to provide some drinks for everyone. While almost all of them remained skeptical, his proposal was supported by the person who had chosen to help him carry their things. This had proven to be the decisive factor in stopping here in the first place; though the tea-haired girl wouldn't have been surprised if the boy had taken off to avoid carrying around their things anymore. Reason for this line of thought was mainly due to how he had conveniently stepped away from the scene a number of days ago after claiming she had won their little scuffle. To be honest, she wouldn't be too surprised if he did just that; but that was only based on one past experience.

"I don't know; I super like the idea of having someone else carry my things; though it would be better if it wasn't that guy." Responded Kinuhata, stating her own personal opinion on the matter though her expression appearing quite displeased at the thought of someone she didn't trust handle her valuables. "I just get this super weird feeling around him."

"He basically looks clueless; not the ideal person who you wanna have around all the time." Continued Frenda, further adding on to Saiai's previous comment. "I still don't know why he's even here with us."

Upon that statement, both girl's shifted their gaze over towards the esteemed leader of ITEM, who was still tinkering with her new phone to see how many applications were provided and deleting whichever ones that considered worthless. Because of this, it was safe to assume that she had been paying no mind to the subject of the two's conversation; having immersed herself in her own task to pay much mind to anything else. But both knew better than to just write off Mugino like that; they knew she was listening yet was only choosing to not comment on the matter at hand. While neither of the two was willing to ask it aloud, the girl undoubtedly knew the real question which was currently swimming through their minds at the moment.

The question was a simple one really: Why had Mugino invited that guy?

Unfortunately, it was also an inquiry that was to be asked at a different time and place; for it seemed as though their bit of free-time was drawing to a close. This was indicated by the fact that Mugino's phone suddenly lit up as she received a text from their sponsor, something which the girl was currently reading. Having informed the individual who had sent the message that her mobile device was reestablished and was capable of receiving the information necessary without having to use a second-hand source to acquire it.

Once she the message was finished, she forwarded it to the rest of her group; signified by the synchronized buzzing of each person present's phones vibrating after receiving the text. Both of girl's were quick to scan its contents before closing their mobile devices, Kinuhata pocketing her's while Frenda chose instead to place it on the table which they were sitting at. They knew discussing out in the open was not the best option with the amount of people who could possibly over-hear them, thus their relative silence. All that was left was for Takitsubo to return and they would be on their way towards their next job.

That was the plan anyway; but it seemed that a certain someone was taking their sweet-ass time coming back.

"For god's sake, how long does it take for-"

"We're back!"

In previous observations, Mugino had already deduced that the additional body among their little group would have been easy to lose sight of in a crowd. It wasn't an outlandish assessment considering how he had managed to escape from her during their first meeting using the crowd as a means to escape from her. Apparently, his normality had its benefits since she had been caught completely off-guard as he approached the table with several of the promised beverages being carried on his person. Apparently he had chosen against going to one of the chain-restaurants around them; as most of which was being carried were canned or bottled drinks. Following up behind him was the familiar track-suit wearing young girl, who was carrying nothing on her person aside from her cell phone along with a another one of a similar design to her's that was black in color.

"As I was saying: How long does it take for you to buy drinks?" Repeated the young woman, her irritation clear now that the object of her ire was present.

"Sorry, sorry, I had to stop at an ATM." Responded the teen dismissively, carefully setting down the beverages on the table whilst Rikou took to placing his phone down on the table as next to Frenda's matching black mobile device. As he was doing this, one would note that he looked relatively sheepish as most of the girl's present realized a common factor between the bottled drinks he had brought back. "I didn't know what you all wanted, so I hope you don't mind tea."

"Really, is that all you can afford?"

"I super hate tea."

"Basically, unless it's sweet, tea is disgusting."

"I should have known…"

In retrospect, with the way these girl's seemed to carelessly blow money the way they did, it should have been expected that anything he bought was bound to be insufficient in comparison. He didn't even know why he was being generous to these girls. With the exception of Takitsubo, all of them had been treating him little to no respect in any way at all. Why be generous to people like that; why try to be courteous to them when all that he would get in return was scorn? One thing was for certain, he could at least indulge in his own personal purchase; having already popped the lid to his own beverage in an attempt to down himself in his own sorrows. What made it sadder was that he was using coffee to do this opposed to alcohol. That just showed how badly he wanted this day to end and how little he cared so long as something good came out of this terrible day.

"Seriously, this is so petty it's distasteful." Continued the Mugino after plucking up one of the bottles and examining it, her expression looking further displeased when she realized it that it was a rather cheap looking brand as well. The look of disapproval that followed this knowledge served its purpose well in adding further insult to injury regarding Touma's less-than favorable money issues. She didn't even drink it, didn't even open it, she simply stared at it for a few moments before putting it back onto the table and letting out a sigh before addressing the boy once more. "I don't even know why I bothered asking you to tag along. Just go home already; you've just been a bore the entire time anyway."

You would think that being subjected to such a blunt statement such as that would have left a person dejected. That was what one would typically expect since nobody would take kindly to being considered dull or at least defend against the accusation. But, oddly enough, Kamijou hardly seemed phased by the statement; though it could be argued that the reason behind his lack of a negative reaction was due to the fact that he was finally able to leave the group and finally return home for the day. It was, after all, something he had been wishing to do once he realized he had been tricked into carting around all the expensive junk these girl's had bought for the past hour or so. With his door of opportunity to leave now open to him, Kamijou merely took another sip of his coffee in his attempt to cover the satisfaction from appearing on his face whilst mindlessly grabbing for his phone on the edge of the closest to him.

"Can't be helped I guess." Retorted the lad, having gathered all his items and looking a bit _**too **_eager to leave the company of these young women. So eager in fact that he nearly backed into someone who was passing behind him, but thankfully nothing ill came about from that. "Well, um, I'll just be on my way then…..nice seein' you again Takitsubo-san."

"…likewise…"

Having said what he felt he needed to say, he gave the remainder of the group a court wave before stepping back in the mass of fellow students until all that could be seen was the back of his spiky black haired head. Even that distinctive trait of his was soon swallowed up in the crowd as he vanished from the group's line of sight as he went well on his way to his dorm. Although, only one set of eyes followed after his retreating back as he departed. Once it was clear Kamijou was no longer within their visage, Mugino's shaded brown eyes shifted themselves over towards Rikou, who's eyes had once more lost their focus as she drifted off into space. Though, there was something different about it this time around which she couldn't particularly place at the time, nor did she care to at that moment. ITEM had work to do, and that meant all personal related issues were to put aside for the time being until after the job was done and over with.

"Seems like you made a new friend Takitsubo." That, however, didn't imply that Mugino couldn't comment on the matter.

"Basically a one-sided friendship if you ask me."

"I super don't look forward to carrying all this though."

Nor did it mean that Frenda or Kinuhata were denied their right to throw in their own two-cents as well. At the very least, the latter had chosen to address a different issue attest to the individual whom they were referring to whom had just now departed. The former was obviously still displeased with the teen from the events that had transpired between them earlier, but those comments were ignored for the most part by Rikou. For she was still too busy registering Mugino's comment; having found herself swimming in a sea of thoughts that were gradually flooding her mind with each passing moment. But, despite being addressed, Rikou chose not to utter a single word in response while doing her best to put aside her current thoughts for the sake of the task which ITEM was assigned to.

But, in the subconscious part of her mind, she couldn't deny that there was indeed some truth in Mugino's off-handed statement.

* * *

Hello, hello; welcome to the bottom!

As you can see, I kept my word and put in a little bit of interaction between our favorite unfortunate protagonist and our blonde older ball of sunshine Fren da. Of course, a little bit of interaction with Kinuhata as well, but I think Frenda made an easier target to focus my attention on due to her quirks. Add those said quirks in with Touma's misfortune and your bound to get a humorous disaster as a result.

Also, I'd like to say that I'm still trying my best to tone done on the internal mono-logs as much as I can. It's not easy for me since that's the way I've always chosen to write, but just know that I am listening to you guys when you ask me to tone things down and I hope that this chapter isn't as bad in terms of walls of text. If it is, then I'm officially blaming Microsoft Word since it doesn't appear as much on there as it does when I post it here. =_=

As usual, if there are any inquiries, thoughts, or concerns that arise in your mind, feel free to address them to me and I'll do what I can to answer them. Otherwise, I hope you enjoyed my little piece of work.

Goodbye for now.


	9. Calling of the Monsters

Greetings all!

Next chapter is finally here, sorry to keep everyone waiting but this one was kinda hard since there were things I wanted to get in here. But I have little to say here, so enjoy the 9th chapter of A Certain World of Darkness.

* * *

In the many years since she had first come to this city, Mugino Shizuri had been subjected to seeing and hearing many things long before she had made the decision to enter this dark and gritty side of Academy City. She had met many foreign men and women, studied many different subjects of different cultures, and even learned how to fluently speak other languages. Her birth into an upper-class family had served well in allowing her upbringing to provide the absolute best for her. Such a lifestyle, though pampered and full of luxury, was not one she particularly enjoyed only due to the fact that it was such a dull and uneventful lifestyle; a life she did not particularly want once she reached a certain age.

Such a lifestyle was ill-suited for her; it just wasn't who she was or a life she wanted to continue leading. Given that the money was nice, the servants were obedient, and anything she wanted was provided to her. Those factors were all things which would make anyone envious of her, yet those same people blissfully unaware that the expectations that came with such a lavish lifestyle made those things seem meaningless. What was the point in having everything you could possibly want if you had so little time to enjoy them? How does one indulge on pleasantries of wealth and success when the responsibilities to maintain threaten to consume you? When do the fake smiles end and where was the line between truth and lies located?

This was the kind of life she had desired to get away from, the life she realized she didn't want to be caught up in. A life that was built on the foundations of lies and the illusion of happiness was not a life worth living in. Academy City wasn't much different either when she had first come here. The only difference was that, in place of a single home of lies and dishonesty, it had become a City of Deception. She knew this, she saw it every day, and had grown far too sick of it. So the moment an opportunity to escape that world presented itself; she did not hesitate and took it. Mugino had no reason back then to let that chance slip away from her fingers, nor did she ever regret that decision since. Even if she had known then what she knew now about what precisely she would see and do in this world, she still would have taken that path regardless.

In this world, in this disgusting place she resided in, she gained the freedom to be who she was and not what other's wanted her to be.

If that meant she had to get her hands dirty; then so be it.

But not everything that went on in this life was satisfactory; for she still had to deal with things and people that were less favorable than others.

"It's always like this with you! It's not like I'm having you use this as your personal coin-locker, so stop bringing in useless junk!"

One of those less than favorable situations was in attendance at this very moment; though not in person as they presented themselves in the form of a large blank black screen with the words 'Sound Only' being displayed in white. The location itself was dark, the screen in front of her being the major source of light in the small room she was located in. In addition to be dimly lit, the room itself was quite small, so small one would feel cramped had there been more people in it with her and the rest of ITEM. If anything, it could be compared to the box-cars in a subway train just because there was so little room between one side of the room to the other. Each side of the room was lined with a long padded couch large enough to accommodate at least three people without forcing those seated to feel bunched up; though a forth would definitely cause problems.

In short, this compacted little space served as both their temporary headquarters that was provided to them by their liaison among the Board of Directors. It also served as their means of transportation; considering all this was set up inside an armored enclosed package truck.

At least, that's what it was meant to look like to the casual observer.

"Can we just get on with this?" Retorted Mugino, her lackadaisical attitude clearly distinctive in her tone as she spoke while staring at the screen in front of her. "I'd like to take care of this quickly and not waste my time on some group of petty Espers."

"It's always like this with you! You knew you had a job this afternoon when I contacted you! Why you persist on buying that useless junk is beyond me; to make it worse you act like my provisions for you are your free shipping service!" Need it be mentioned that, despite her status as ITEM's manager, the obviously woman on the other side of the screen was still a person and complained like any normal person would. "This is the last time I'm going to say it; next time I'll have the driver burn it!"

"Come on, let's just super get on with the briefing." Stated Kinuhata, clearly just as disinterested as Mugino was in terms of listening to the woman's complaints.

"Fine then, but don't think that I'm not serious about what I said." Responded the voice, muttering to herself on the opposite side of the line before the screen's display changed to that of a picture of the man who had been found in a dumpster at the border of Districts 10 and 2. "As stated in the message this afternoon, a weapons developer by the name of Ichijirou Yuuji was reported missing several days ago by authorities; leaving behind few indications portraying to his whereabouts. This morning, he was found dead; though officials are still claiming that he is missing. It was determined that his time of death had been sometime this morning before sunrise."

"So they held the guy for a few days and tortured him; that information's trivial at this point." Commented Mugino, still sounding largely disinterested in the subject of the weapon's developer. "What was he working on is what matters here."

"I was getting to that if you would just let me continue without interrupting!"

As the woman complained further, the monitor on the screen altered to display a moderately sized fortified structure surrounded on all sides by thick walls of concrete and barbed wire. Though such obstacles weren't particularly difficult to stop an Esper, the amount of security cameras and drones in addition to the guards stationed around the facility would make entering without detection a rather tedious task in itself to accomplish. While the facility itself was still surrounded by several other buildings, such as the parking garage where the victim had been apprehended, it was still closed off from everything else surrounding it; as even the parking garage was connected to the building via an overpass walkway for safety purposes.

Mugino and the rest of ITEM as a whole watched as the picture for the facility shrunk whilst a large blue-print of the structure began to expand; showing that there was much more to this building than what was seen on the surface. Due to the fact that these facilities were for weapon's development and testing, the institute required more space for field testing that could not be provided above ground. Thus, from what could be seen with the blue-prints, the a much larger structure was housed beneath the building; with only three access elevators which allowed the developers to descend to the lower levels of the facility. Judging by the amount of security that surrounded the surface structure, it was possible that those elevators were exclusive to only certain personnel who worked there.

"The reports state that he was currently improving a prototype particle acceleration weapon exclusive to the military. The original developer began working on it to provide armed forces a more effective means to take out heavily armored targets; mainly tanks. Allegedly, a single shot produced enough heat to pierce through even the most heat-resistant metals like butter. The only issue was that the funds to mass produce the weapon were too costly for certain people's taste; in addition to the weapon's reliability was low given the amount of energy it required to function properly. From what was recorded, the weapon could only be fired twice before the energy-supply ran out. That's where Ichijirou-san came into the picture; having succeeded in decreasing the energy consumption rate significantly once he took part in the development."

"Basically, did ORDER want to get a hold of this thing?" interjected Frenda, having grown interested in the matter now that it was becoming clearer what the group's agenda was.

"I'd assume so, given the amount of trouble they went through keeping him alive until recently." Responded the woman, her tone steady and calm opposed to moments prior to the explanation. "However, recent developments have led me to believe that there is more to this than just acquiring a prototype weapon."

"Then what else could they super be after?" Inquired Kinuhata as she learned forward in her seat to peer back at display screen in front of her. "Why else would they hold the weapon's developer for so long if they weren't going to go after it?"

The on the other end of the monitor didn't respond immediately; instead she chose to change the display on the screen once again to an entirely different location than the one originally shown. The location itself was listed as District 1 above the image of a former luxurious two-story household. Former in the sense that the house was covered in black with the charred remains of the place still emitting matching black smoke around it. The property around it was not spared by the flames as well, as neighboring buildings were also caught up in the blaze. Though it did little to damage the interior of the buildings on either side, it still caused some damage to the home's surroundings.

"The home-owner was found where the fire had originated from; the very same man was also the individual who was ORDER's benefactor." Answered the woman finally, the screen shifting to more detailed images of the crime-scene. "Most, if not all, of the information that detailed the member's of ORDER was lost in the fire, so the details behind who they are is still under speculation."

"Basically, no witnesses saw who did that?" To say Frenda was unnerved by this was akin to saying her hair wasn't blonde. In her mind, someone should have at least come to suspect that the last person to leave the home would have been the culprit, yet nothing had been said on official channels. Even she knew that much since the woman on the other end of the line was not displaying a video recording of how it happened.

"Not one, though we suspect that someone had tampered with the security around the area. It wouldn't surprise me given who the murder victim was."

"Who was he?"

"The CEO of a large corporation that is located in District 15. Specifically he is one of the many individuals out there that makes sure that groups like ITEM remain off all forms of the media and communication. Though it isn't limited at all to just groups, but all shady activities that occur are blocked from public knowledge because of companies like the one this man was in charge of."

"…what were the recent developments you mentioned?" Inquired Rikou, speaking up for the first time since the briefing had begun.

"According to my sources, it is believed that ORDER has come into possession of highly classified information that was originally intended to be disclosed exclusively to the Board of Directors. That information somehow ended up in their hands, so we have concluded that their other objective is to distribute that information to the public."

"So I'm assuming they have access to the CEO's communication center." Remarked Mugino halfheartedly, though her tone did bare a tinge of curiosity. "Then what was the point of the weapon developer's kidnapping? Was it a job that they were taking prior to all of this or were they just using him as a smokescreen?"

"Regardless of the purpose behind Ichijirou's kidnapping, the fact remains that we still have two positive locations which ORDER will strike. They wouldn't have kept him alive so long if he didn't serve some kind of purpose; so them attempting to acquire that prototype is still within the range of possibility. No doubt they have the means to gain entry and its doubtful that independent armed forces will be suitable enough to keep them from either of their objectives. That is why you four will be providing assistance in preventing them from achieving their objectives and eliminating ORDER. So long as you don't leave a big mess in your wake, then this will be an easily settled matter and easy money for all of you."

"Are there any super details about the members of ORDER that we should know about?" As simple as the job sounded, Kinuhata still didn't particularly like the idea of not knowing precisely what the people they were assigned to eliminate were capable of. Some Esper's were stronger than others, some had rare abilities that hadn't even reached full fruition but would still cause significant problems if they were not aware of what to expect.

"None, that's why I'm going to tell you not to mess around and exercise at least some caution." If the person was in the room with them, she would most likely be giving a pointed glare at Mugino and Frenda; the former because of her arrogance and the latter for her lack of professionalism at times. "They are largely unknown, and I take no pleasure in not knowing what this group is capable of. Your job is a simple one, so don't go making a huge mess of this and cause more collateral damage than necessary; the client won't be happy if too much damage is sustained during this operation."

"Which basically means our pay will be cut if we cause too much damage." Grumbled Frenda, crossing her arms over her chest, her displeasure clearly noted in her tone. "So, basically, I can't use explosives like I normally do."

"So long as the damage to either of the facilities is minimal, do what you need to." Assured the woman on the other end of the line, the display on the monitor shifting back to the original state prior to the briefing. "Since there are two target locations, I'll leave it to you to determine who goes to which location. No doubt they too will be splitting up as well and they are already on the move; so pick now so the driver can drop everyone to their designated locations."

"Right then, let's get to it."

Having reached the conclusion of the briefing, Mugino clapped her hands together whilst her tone shifted away from its previous indifference and settled into that of her usual business tone. as her gaze shifted towards each of the young women present. In the process of this, her mind began to work out who would be best suited for each location; which would determine how well the operation would play out depending on who went to which location. In all actuality though, Rikou was best suited to accompany herself in most of these jobs; as Takitsubo's AIM Stalker combined with her Meltdowner made for an unpredictable ranged bombardment. While that would have normally been the decisive factor in how the group was split up, it was still up to debate if three people should be tasked with one objective or if separating them into even groups would be more prudent.

Frenda, despite her bouts of unprofessional behavior, was still a very capable individual on her own. Even though the blonde lacked an ability like the rest of ITEM, she still proved her worth time and again with her skills in trap preparation, precise tactics, and her ability to adjust to changing conditions. Kinuhata, on the other hand, was a Level 4 Esper and acted in a more professional manner than Frenda did, thus making her a reliable option in handling the more sensitive objectives during certain jobs. Her Offensive Armor made her nearly unstoppable in combat, the couple centimeters of super-compressed nitrogen acting as a barrier around her body made hurting her a very difficult task to accomplish. For that reason, she was the most ideal individual to deal with heavily armed groups since normal forms of weaponry were highly incapable of penetrating her defenses.

Both were more than capable of handling themselves in close quarters combat and had good coordination when working together when the time called for it. It was for this reason, in addition to their other individual skills, that both individuals were considered valuable to ITEM as a whole. With two Espers who focused in ranged combat and two others who excelled at close quarters combat made ITEM rather balanced. Given, Takitsubo wasn't one to actively do combat, but Mugino's Meltdowner was enough more than enough to suffice in the ranged department.

With all of this clear in mind and given how little they had to go on in terms of who they were up against, choosing how ITEM would split up was crucial to the success of this job. Obviously the bigger objective was the communication center, so that dictated where she and Takitsubo were going to go. That left the choice between sending Frenda and Kinuhata together to the secondary objective together or send only one of them there and have the other join them?

Choices, it was all a matter of which option would be most preferable to the overall success of the assignment...

"Frenda, you will accompany Kinuhata to the weapon's facility and set up a few countermeasures for any uninvited guests that enter the facility." Ordered the woman finally after several moments of deliberation; her finger idly toying with her long locks of hair as she continued to speak. "After that, meet us at the communications center and do the same. Keep the explosive-damage to a minimal in both locations; the last thing we need is her or the client getting pissed off about property damage."

"I'm still here you know!" Complained the voice from the opposite end of the screen.

"Kinuhata, you'll be acting independently this time around." Continued Mugino, dismissing the liaison's complains as she spoke. "If the situation escalates further than anticipated; call me and I'll send someone there to provide backup; though I doubt the situation will be but so dire. In any case, maintain contact with the rest of us if any new developments occur; that goes to you as well."

"It's not like I take the precious time in my busy schedule to hear myself speak, Meltdowner!" Retorted the woman, not overly offended by the means in which she was addressed by the girl but still noticeably aggravated by it. "Just don't botch this; this is pretty cut and dry so do your job right and don't foul-up!"

"Whatever, it's time to move."

* * *

Of the wide verity of occupations that were available in Academy City, security was not as enticing a job opposed to the many other options available to be attained. Some viewed it as a dull activity that involved minimal work for minimum pay. What was the use of having a guard when security cameras and drones could do most of those things for them? Given, it was still a necessity given that certain Espers could short-circuit most of the electrical equipment used for defensive purposes. That was the only reason which allowed flesh-and-blood human patrols and guards to maintain their job status; otherwise they would be either out of a job or assigned a different task. It was for that same reason that some other's believed the job to be an easy job that paid decent enough for how little they had to work. Neither party was fully correct or incorrect with their logic, for there was some truth in both sides of the spectrum.

But, no matter which aspect one looked it from, the fact still remained that it was a boring job to have.

To the man sitting inside the guard-shack by the entrance of a large closed-off area in District 23, he couldn't have asked for a more lackluster job than this. Every day dragged on with people in lab-coats, suits, and military gear of both sexes entered and exited through the gates every day of the week. Because of the location, this area of the district was largely restricted from the view of the general public; so there were few who actually passed by on the roads or sidewalks unless they worked within one of the facilities. As for work, the most he did in a typical day was stare at a screen that displayed various live footage scattered about the outer parameter while sitting behind window to buzz people through the gates to allow them entry into the facility behind him. That was all he did normally, the pistol that he carried on his person had never once been used since he had been given this assignment and even when something abnormal did happen he still had not once removed it from its holster. It was like a carrying a dead-weight on his hip, so utterly pointless to have for a job where nothing ever happened.

His only saving grace was that his shifts were short, meaning he had about fifteen minutes left before he could get out of this damn shack and actually do something worth his time. Having spared a glance outside, he silently pondered why the facility behind him needed so much security when there was hardly anything around it. There were several kilometers worth of solar panels which he supposed powered the facility in addition to the windmills that were scattered among them. From where he was standing, it wasn't possible to count the number of them that was present, but he could only assume that they would seem endless if he were to travel through a single row.

Just thinking about it made his head hurt, thus he turned his attention back towards the monitor in hopes of seeing the person who would be relieving him of his shift. He didn't find them, but he did see someone in a suit making their approach towards the gate. While the sight itself wasn't unusual, the case that the man was carrying did raise an eyebrow. The carrying case was made of thick metal and quite bulky from the normal case he was used to seeing these folk have on their person. Because of this, carrying it in one's hands would normally be a hassle had it not been for the extended handle and the wheels which allowed to roll behind the lad as he advanced. While it was odd to see such a large case, it wasn't straying too far from what he normally saw in a daily basis.

As the individual grew closer, the guard began to notice that the individual in question appeared to be quite young; mature in appearance yes but still young regardless. Why such a youth was dressed in a pinstriped suit he didn't know, but he was obviously too young and did not possess a face he recalled on-hand. Just as the guard was about to call out to him, the young man passed the gate; choosing instead to approach the window which he was located at. As he came over, his hand reached into his pocket to possibly retrieve his identification; his expression betraying nothing but the seriousness he would expect from a businessman.

"Identification please." Was the standard protocol statement made to all personnel that approached the facility, a statement which spoke louder than words how uneventful his job was.

What transpired afterwards was something which the guard could not explain. In the time that it took him to blink the lad had retrieved the object from his inner-coat pocket and currently had it resting at the small opening in the glass where he could take the ID card, inspect it, and return it to the owner of it. But what the lad had retrieved wasn't his ID, but a much heavier object made of dark gray metal that gave off a sheen as the sun's rays reflected off its surface. Loosely translated, the young man was pointing the barrel of a gun at him and appeared to be quite serious about using it.

"Here's my ID, now lemme' in." The voice of this youth was cold, cold enough to send chills down the grown man's spine as he heard it. He knew then, knew from that very moment, that failing to obey would not yield positive results. Wordlessly, the guard could do nothing but abide by the young man's demand, his trembling finger pressing the key to unlock the gate and allow the suited youth to enter; whilst his other hand reached for the emergency alarm underneath the counter where he was located.

He would never reach that button, nor would he realize what had happened to him until after it was too late to stop it. For the moment the buzzer had gone off, two dry gunshots rang out which was followed by the smell of gunpowder. The well-dressed young man didn't even give the guard a parting glance as he slipped his gun back into his inner-coat pocket and entered through the rotating gate entrance; leaving a man to lay dead where he was in a pool of his own blood. In doing this, the lad's hand reached into his pants pocket and retrieved his cell-phone, hitting the speed-dial and pressing the receiver up to his ear. As pre-usual, it didn't take but two rings before the person on the other end of the line had answered.

"I'm approaching our secondary objective." Was all that was spoken by the lad, the case in his back rolling behind him as he continued towards the facility's entrance. "Proceeding with Operation: Icarus now Kurou."

* * *

It should be said that, in spite of attaining freedom, Kamijou Touma had not immediately returned home like he had originally intended. Given, it had been his intended goal for the past hour since having met with Mugino and her company not long ago. However, in spite of having the full intention to do so, he was not privileged enough to proceed with his self-appointed goal of returning to his dorm. The reason behind that was largely the fault of circumstance and the fact that, again, some deity found it amusing to toy with his life like it was its own private gag reel. It never ceased to amaze and frustrate the boy with the amount of luck he lacked to live a normal, carefree, existence in the grand spectrum of life. Seriously, was a single fortunate day too much to ask for; was it really so difficult to have one day in his life where thing's went accordingly?

"Get back here!"

Evidently not, if having three people snapping at his heels was of any indication.

Retreating from a conflict was a usually something he was accustomed to doing; having been forced to do so on a semi-regular basis. Most of those cases, however, involved helping someone else out of a troublesome situation, meaning he was usually the scapegoat that drew the aggressor's attention away from their original target and thus allowing those people to safely get away unharmed. This shift in targets, however, usually meant that he was the one who was then tasked with dealing with the more violent nature of the delinquents and thugs who wanted to cause people harm. What that translated to, in his mind, was that among all brilliant ideas running was possibly the best one since fighting several people armed with blunt weapons and possibly knives was not the most suitable option. Besides, self preservation dictated that lingering threat of being stabbed or bludgeoned to death was a reasonable enough excuse to run away.

Though, what was peculiar about this particular event was that Touma was the intended victim from the start. While it was rare that he would be found in a situation where he was personally being mugged by someone, it still happened just as it could happen to anyone else out on the streets. He was no exception to the chances of being the victim of these occurrences; though admittedly he never would have thought it would given the amount of times he had intervened in situations similar to what he had experienced. It felt weird actually being the intended victim for a change, though in the end the results still ended the same regardless of who the target was.

Apparently, one someone among the people chasing after him had seen him when he was in the underground shopping center when withdrawing money from the ATM. Someone must have been following him after that, because the moment he made it to street level, someone had grabbed and pulled him into an alleyway. Like every normal person who had self preservation in mind, he was fully prepared to follow through with whatever demands they made; but that changed pretty quickly when the person made a statement he didn't particularly care for. Mind you, his patience wasn't something to be taken lightly; he had an abundance of it and this particular day's events with Mugino and her friend's taunting was proof enough that he could restrain himself to great extents. But one comment had crossed the line, which was the only reason Touma knew that they had been watching him since he had been at the ATM.

The comment regarded a certain girl in a track-suit being their next 'target' and that was just the filtered translation.

In response to that, Touma had acted out in a manner that went against everything his common sense told him in terms of remaining unharmed.

It was a result of that action which we find Touma running for his life, once again, from thuggish brutes that reside within this city. There were three chasing him, with the forth and the person who had made the comment still out cold on the ground where they had originally caught him at. While he may have cursed whatever higher being for cursing him with misfortune, he had to also thanks that same being for allowing the element of surprise to allow him the means of getting a head-start before they had began chasing him. It may have been the shock of seeing one of their cohorts rendered unconscious or it could have possibly have been that he was knocked out by a single punch. Whatever the case was, the fact remained that, in that moment of confusion, Kamijou was able to slip away before they regained awareness of the situation and chased after him.

Unfortunately, though predictably with his luck, that moment of opportunity wasn't enough to lose them. Hence the reason they were still pursuing him at this very moment.

What made the whole thing much worse was that his pursuers didn't really care too much about being out in the open streets to capture him. Touma had thought that the threat of Judgment or Anti-Skill apprehending them would have made them skeptical about being out in the open. But, upon applying that theory, it seemed that they either threw caution to the wind or it was simply not something that had entered their minds. They only had the goal of capturing and beating him to an inch of his life; all consequences that followed that were deemed acceptable in their eyes; or at least that's what Touma had assumed. The fact that they were hurting people in their pursuit of him had caused the spiky haired youth to reevaluate where he ran to avoid anyone seriously getting injured. The fewer people that got involved the better, even if it meant that it would go unnoticed by the authorities.

It for that reason which made Touma stick to the alleys and using every trick he knew to escape from the group chasing after him. From cutting corners at random, to throwing trash-bens over; anything that would stall or confuse them would suffice as long as it didn't involve other people. But, as the minutes passed by and the distance he traveled extended further and further away from his previous destination; Touma was beginning to feel the fatigue of this pursuit. He was by no means a slouch in terms of physical exercise, but he wasn't an athlete either and his legs were gradually beginning to feel more and more like jelly the more he ran. His breath was coming in short, uneven, breaths and his body was becoming more and more doused with sweat. It didn't help that the temperature outside, even when the sun was descending in the sky, was still humid enough to warrant discomfort and the people chasing him weren't courteous enough to provide him a break.

Thankfully, they weren't much better off since they appeared to have slowed down considerably since this had all started. Credit needed to be given to them for sticking out this long and not giving up in their goal. Had he the right to do so, he would have told them to use that same drive for academic purposes opposed to using it to chase him down. That thought only served as a reminder to similar words Kaomi-sensei had told him once addressed him with; which also served to remind him that he had homework that needed to be done.

Because of that particular thought and the dread that came with it, Kamijou had altered from his original path and ended up coming face-to-face with a concrete wall. It was a dead end; which basically translated that he was fucked.

"Crap!" Gasped out the boy, as he hastily whirled around in hopes that he could still get out before the thugs arrived. That, however, was just a pipe-dream as he didn't even take a single step before the three older teens blocked his only escape route. Now he was backed into a corner, no means of getting out of this situation unscathed and too tired at the moment to put up much of a fight against three armed individuals. He could handle himself just fine if it was only one person, two he could possibly come out without much injury; but three was his limit. That wasn't accounting for weapons, practical or improvised ones either; and even if he had one himself he still wouldn't feel the outcome would be satisfactory.

Still, the trio after him looked to be on their last leg themselves; all panting and sweating to the same degree as he was. That didn't mean much really since there was no advantage to be gained since both parties were tired; all it meant was that four people were tired and that's all. They would still overwhelm him with numbers, box him in and leave no openings that could be exploited like before. Truly this was the worst time to be caught between a wall and three armed thugs.

"Finally….got you….bastard…." The spokesman for the group, who was positioned to his right, wheezed out as he leaned his body against the wall nearest him. In spite of his fatigued state, he appeared to be quite satisfied with the end result; something which didn't surprise Touma very much.

Those words only further fueled the dread that was swelling up in Touma's gut as they gradually stalked towards him like wolves. He was trapped now and all parties present knew it. With each step they took forward, he was forced to take one back; until of course the wall kept him from doing so. Caught between a rock and a hard place; there were only two options that were really present in Kamijou's mind at this point. The first was to fight back, despite being out numbered, avoid the two with weapons, and hope to get out of this situation relatively unscathed. This option was bound to yield bad results regardless of how optimistic he was; so there was little hope for getting out of this unharmed. The remaining option was to simply avoid the initial attacks and make a run for it like he had before and hope he could lose them. That idea, though, was also born from the optimistic side his mind that usually did not win out against fate.

Never the less, he had to act on one of those two options; neither of which was without their own set of consequences.

Not for the first time did Kamijou curse whatever deity that had bestowed misfortune onto his being.

"You three, stay where you are!"

It seemed, however, that whatever it was that cursed him was capable of pity after all. As the moment came for a decision to be made, those words pierced the tense atmosphere that had made up the alleyway and cause all parties to turn back towards the only means of escape from the area which they were located. The individual who had spoken out was short, but that was to be expected given the fact that they appeared to still be a middle-school student; if the Tokiwadai school uniform was of any indication. Her auburn hair was styled into two curly pigtails, bound by a set of red bows while the rest of it was left to hang as two rows of fridges that separated in the center of her forehead. While the Tokiwadai middle-school uniform should have been the most eye-catching factor here, due to the fact that it was a prestigious all girl's school, one particular article that was added to the right sleeve of her attire was what trumped it in terms of catching everyone's attention.

The green and white striped armband with a symbol of a shield in the center was what really caught the male's attention here. Even though he was the furthest away from the girl, he recognized that instantly; thus causing him to feel a bit of relief.

"Judgment," Muttered the boy, his relief showing in his posture as she shoulder's became less tense than it was moments ago. "what a sight for sore eyes."

"Shit!" Having been caught in the act, the teen in the center of the group didn't waste any time in taking action against the disciplinary committee member of Academy City. Said action was to quickly turn in place and charge the girl with the lead pipe he had picked up along the way raised and ready to descend on the girl's noticeably smaller frame. While this teen's action had been a hostile one, the teen to his left chose the opportunity instead to flee rather than be arrested; having at least some awareness that most members of Judgment were Espers of various Levels and abilities. The teen who had spoken out prior to the Judgment Member's arrival had also opted to flee for the time being; committing their target's face to memory in hopes of beating the lad senseless in the distant future next time he saw him.

Of the three individuals that had originally been chasing him, only one remained and willing to go against the girl who had interfered. Once he saw the attack, Touma's relief began to fade when the girl didn't take any action in avoiding the assault. The panic that overcame him cause him to act, which provided the adrenaline needed for him to run as fast as he could in the thug's direction in a vain attempt to stop him before the girl was struck. He knew that he wouldn't be able to intercept the teen, but he wouldn't allow himself to sit back and watch as someone else got hurt on his behalf.

"Move!" This cry of desperation, though loud, went largely unheard by the girl as she remained motionless. Kamijou honestly didn't know what was going through the girl's brain at the moment, but she was obviously not doing anything to prepare herself in either dodging or countering the attack that was soon to come. Though, once as he made his hasty approach forward, he took notice to how she didn't seem even remotely scared or worried about this turn of events.

If anything, she looked bored.

And within seconds, it was clear why she wasn't reacting to the thug's actions; for in the span it took for him to blink the girl who was once standing in front of the teen had simply vanished. So sudden was this action that the teen in front of him had ceased all movement and was left staring owlishly at the spot the girl had previously been located. Touma too was also left in a state of awe, but it had not been enough to stop his advancement forward. That being said, before he himself realized it, his body was only a foot away from colliding with the teen he had been determined to stop; his footfalls echoing off the surrounding walls and causing the lad in front of him to address the approaching noise. The pipe in his hand was still suspended above his head in a manner that would not allow him the means to attack with it without twisting his body around for a full swing.

Touma, on the other hand, didn't need to worry about such a thing; and thus acted on the basic instinct that had driven him forward in the first place. Said instinct was to raise his right arm and pull it back as far as he could with his hand clenched into a tight fist. Upon entering the appropriate range, he took one final step and secured his footing before rotating his body with his fist as he swung at the man's face. The conclusion; bare knuckles connected with the thick bones of the young man's jaw, the impact more than enough to stagger him alone; but the momentum and surprise that came with it had been what ultimately resulted in the teen's form to nearly be knocked clean off his feet and onto the harsh concrete they were standing on.

He didn't even have time to groan out or try to re-situation himself before several small white spikes impaled his clothes to the ground; securing him in place. That action had honestly made Kamijou just back in fright due to how sudden it had occurred.

"Such an action was not necessary sir." Even more startling than the spikes was how the girl's voice had suddenly found itself behind him; causing him to jolt up into the air briefly again before whirling around to find the girl from before standing behind him. "The situation was under control, so please refrain from interfering with Judgment affairs in the future."

"How did-when did you-" Truly at a loss, Touma's gaze shifted from the girl in front of him to the teen laying on the ground behind him, his expression clearly displaying his bewilderment while his words were jumbled and scattered about. "What the hell just happened?"

"Two suspects were apprehended for several unlawful offenses; such as loitering, attempted burglary, and the intent to cause physical harm to a citizen."

"I understand that part, but what exactly did you do? A second ago you were right there, then you were gone, and now you're here?"

"Why, you appear as though you have never encountered a Teleporter before." As the Judgment officer made this assessment, she carelessly swept her hand to one of her pigtails that had landed on her shoulder. He supposed it was a dismissive gesture, but her tone betrayed that as it sounded genuinely bemused, Though, in retrospect, it wouldn't be that surprising since the number of Teleporters in Academy City were so few in number. Given, it wasn't like they were a very rare kind of Esper, but it was an ability that didn't appear as frequently as someone with Telekinesis.

"Oh...w-well, um, yeah; I've never really met one before." Admitted the spiky haired youth truthfully, raising his hand and rubbing the back of his neck sheepishly. With so many Espers in the city, it was rather easy to forget that people with abilities, such as this girl's, actually existed. Truthfully, he had only heard a few things here and there about Teleporters, his statement being true that he had never met one personally. That was an ability that was hard to forget, especially if it was used by some of those people who tried to bully him in the past because they thought he was an easy target or some other superficial reason. "It just took me by surprise; that's all."

"I see." Upon making her remark, the girl's eyes turned to view the groaning teen who's jaw was steadily beginning to swell due to the blow he had taken to his face. "Well then, I suppose I should inform Anti-Skill to apprehend these two. As disheartening as it is that one of them had escaped, I doubt he will perform any actions against you for the time being."

"That's reassuring, thanks…um-"

"Shirai Kuroko," Responded the girl to the unspoken question, giving the boy a courteous bow as she introduced herself. "Judgment member of Branch Office 177 of District 7."

"Kamijou Touma, thanks for the help." Still appearing quite sheepish, he returned her act of courtesy with a bow of his own before adjusting his posture. "Is there anything you need help doing?"

"The offer is appreciated, but I must insist that you carry on." Responded the girl dismissively yet doing so in a more polite manner than the previous company he had just recently gotten away from. "That would be the most appropriate way to assist me; this is a part of my duty after all."

"Understood." Given permission to leave, and no longer faced with any immediate danger, Kamijou produced a retreating gesture with his hand as he walked away from the scene which had unfolded. "Thank you, Shirai-san."

He was only rewarded with silence, having turned around briefly only to find that the girl had vanished once again. Even though he knew she was apart of Judgment, it still unnerving to him having a person just disappear in the second it took for him to blink. He could only count his few good graces that such a girl used her ability for a good cause and not selfishly using it for her own gain. Admittedly, he would have surely been tempted to misuse such a skill if he had possession of it; but being tempted and actually falling through with it were two different things. Just because you could do it didn't imply that it was the right thing to do; of course many still chose to act at the first time the opportunity arose.

But it was nice to know that, despite all of those who selfishly squander their abilities, there were just as many people in this city who used them for the right reasons.

Relieved anxious to finally return to his dorm, Kamijou began to rummage through his pants pocket for his phone as he advanced towards the populated streets. Reason for this action was basically because he had lost track as to where he was. Sure, he could just observe his surroundings to determine his location; but doing so was too much of a hassle to deal with at the moment. Why spend so much time on doing that when he had a GPS application on his phone that would tell him where he was in a few seconds? Even if his phone was an outdated model, it was still far more reliable and durable than those touch-screen phones that lost its worth once the screen cracked.

As Touma's hand retrieved the mobile device from his pocket, something felt particularly odd about it. It wasn't something that he could really place, but there was something that really felt odd to him. Upon inspection, while the color scheme was the familiar black, design had a few noticeable differences that he didn't recall his phone having. It was a flip-phone, but it seemed slimmer than how he remembered, lighter in his hand as well, and the display screen on the front seemed a bit larger. The camera lens was in its designated spot, sure, but that was the only thing that he recalled being the same. Curious, he flipped the device open and immediately knew that something was wrong; because the image in the background was definitely not something he remembered putting on the display screen. In that same moment, realization flickered in his eyes as he recalled the events that had taken place in the food court in the shopping center he had only recently left from.

Kamijou wasn't thinking about it then, busy as he was trying to get away from those girl's who persistently taunted him for the past hour. Once he reflected on the matter, the fact that there were too phones of similar color and modals placed next to one another, it was easy enough to deduce what had happened.

"…I grabbed the wrong phone…" Groaned the boy quietly, his relief once again forcefully ejected from its place as thoughts of enduring the taunts of those vicious young women when he informed them of this little mix-up entered his mind. All he wanted to do was go home, now he had to face those three he had just now gotten away from again. Evidently, fate felt the need to torture him further today for some reason or another. "Fukou-da…"

Before any further action could commence, though Touma was stalling for as long as possible at this point, the phone in his hand sudden began to hum; startling him as he peered down at the vibrating mobile device that was still open in his hand. Whoever's phone this was, they were receiving a call from someone; the Caller ID doing its job in identifying who the person was and only further prompted him not to answer it. There, on the screen and flashing repeatedly from red to black text was a name of a person whom he had recently come to know and avoid now that their identity was disclosed to him.

Mugino Shizuri.

* * *

Why hello there, nice to see ya!

So, after two chapter's worth of fillers, I think its safe to assume that this chapter can best be described as the 'shit's about to get real' kinda chapter. Now I know there are some of you who aren't going to be happy with the cliff-hanger ending again, but understand that I have a quota. I'm not going over it unless I need to. That being said, I can promise you some long-awaited action to take place in the coming chapters. This is it my readers, this is what I've been building up for. I'm excited about it, and I'm hoping that what you see next will be to your liking. I will apologize for it taking so long to get here, but build-up for this arc. was necessary and I have the full intentions of making someone's jaw drop.

That's the intention anyway, not sure if I'll succeed in that but I may as well try right?

Anyways, as usual, if there are any inquiries, thoughts, or concerns that arise in your mind, feel free to address them to me and I'll do what I can to answer them. Otherwise, I hope you enjoyed my little piece of work.

Goodbye for now.


	10. Beasts on the Prowl

Greetings to all!

Sorry for the long update; frankly speaking I've had a few issues with both this chapter and with life. I won't bore you with the details, just know that I'm still alive and aim to please all those who are looking forward to this piece of work I created. Anyways, enough of this, on with chapter 10 of A Certain World of Darkness!

* * *

This was supposed to be a cut-and-dry assignment; easy money for them and with few problems. That had been what their backer had stated, what they were all implied to believe, what should have been. She knew better though, how could she not after surviving this gritty side of the world for so long? She, of course, wasn't alone in thinking that; instinctively all of ITEM should have known that there was more to this situation than just a random group of Espers causing mayhem. They all knew it; they were all subconsciously pondering the deeper purpose behind the scenes, but did not vocally question it aloud. Paranoia wasn't the reason for their reluctance; hesitance wasn't what was maintaining their silence. It was because delving deeper into the black void that made up this world not yield a good outcome, nor would it serve any real purpose.

There was no reward for curiosity, all that would be gained from that was death or a fate far worse than it.

No fool would willingly jump into that, or at least no one whom she knew of personally. Self-preservation took precedence before anything else; and while many would deny such a statement, it didn't make it any less true. Many would say the lives of others stand before their own, but such a belief was quick to be overturned once it became clear that their lives were in jeopardy. It was a hypocritical belief, one she had watch time and again crumble in the instant that death stared them in the face. She, of course, was no exception to this rule herself really. It was human nature to preserve one's existence from being extinguished by another and she felt no shame in admitting that she was willing to do whatever it took to maintain her existence in this world for as long as possible.

Unashamed to admitting that, indignity was not the primary reason she never openly spoke about it. She personally didn't care about something so petty as honor or respect, so those reasons were not the cause of her unwillingness to speak. No, it was out of pure fear that ensured her silence regarding this matter, the fear of losing her life should a certain individual ever discover how far she was willing to go to stay alive. Was that desire to survive worth being killed for? In the eyes of a certain person; yes, it was more than reason enough to have her killed for. Trust was a difficult thing to obtain, it was even harder to maintain once it is given; and once that trust is lost than it is nearly impossible to regain. However, in this life, trust was something that was not given to just anyone; you only had yourself to depend on and trusting others would only end with a knife in your back.

It was trust in yourself and your instincts which kept you alive in this world; anything more and you were just plain gullible and an easy target to those who would manipulate you to do more than just grunt work.

For that reason, when ITEM's provided means of transportation had reached its destination, skepticism was clearly seen on the blonde girl garbed in black as she stepped out of the vehicle and surveyed her surroundings. The tall multi-level building that the truck had parked in front of stood proudly in her visage, her blue eyes only taking in the minimal amount of details for the sake of gaining some useful information that would benefit her. Though, the place she was planning to enter from was not the main entrance; rather it was a maintenance entrance for staff who worked inside the building. Usually, these doors were always locked or required a key or even a swipe-card to gain entry and always had a camera surveying the entrance.

Said camera was no longer functioning if the smoke it was emitting due to fried circuitry was of any indication. The door leading into the building was also ajar, though not due to someone being careless in leaving it open. Her proof appearing in the form of a large dent that was present next to the locking mechanism on the door. While it was true that just about anyone could break down these doors if they were an Esper, it still troubled her that there was no form of indication as to what was used to break in. Nothing within the area was solid enough to allow a dent of that size to be formed from just hitting a sturdy metal door like this. From what she was currently looking at, it would seem as though someone had hit it with a sledge-hammer; but the likelihood of that being what caused this seemed unlikely.

What she was able to conclude from this was that, whoever did this, did not use a subtle method for breaking in. That meant that someone inside the facility had disabled the alarm system that would have otherwise been blaring due to the forced entry. What bothered her, however, was that she hadn't received a status report from Mugino or Takitsubo yet. This made her curious and, at the same time, made her wonder if was more to what ITEM had originally been told about this group. Frenda was already aware that they had little to no information regarding ORDER or what they were capable of, but being left in the dark about certain details happened all the time in their line of work. It wouldn't have been too far outside the realm of possibility that their backer was keeping things from them; she was a member among the Board of Directors after all.

So what could she be hiding from them; what kind of crucial information could have been tucked away that could jeopardize this entire job's overall success?

Frenda didn't know, nor was she willing to chalk up the lack of information given due to lack of knowledge on the liaison part. She may be narrow-minded at times, she may act unprofessional and make mistakes, but she wasn't a damn fool either. Something was wrong with this situation, something that she didn't like and was half tempted to call Mugino to try and convince her to pry more information out of the person who was backing them. But, after pondering the pros and cons of that, she deduced that calling Mugino over that would not be a wise choice to make until more evidence of foul play was gained. Thus, when she approached the door, she cautiously peeked her head in and surveyed the interior before making her way inside.

The maintenance area was mainly filled with massive generators and several fuse boxes which powered the facility, electrical equipment, and security system. Even with casual observation, Frenda was able to take note that none of the circuitry was damaged; meaning nothing had been shut down since entry. Of course, she wasn't the best person in the world to ask in regards as to how electrical systems functioned, so she wasn't too willing to mess with anything in this area. However, just because she didn't know how they worked didn't mean she couldn't inspect them to see if any of them had been tampered with. Of course, checking them all was not option if the intruders were already inside the building, so she checked what she assumed were the vital fuse-boxes; finding nothing amiss amongst those she had checked.

Performing these actions did not quell her skepticism in the slightest though; if anything it heightened her caution even more. ORDER's goal was known to them, so it would explain why they wouldn't wish for the power of the facility to go out. Even if she were to shut down the entire building, the windmills which powered most of the city would kick in and reboot anything anyway; not to mention that a facility of this size and possessing significant importance would have back-up generators somewhere else.

Clearly ORDER had thought this out more thoroughly than ITEM had anticipated.

"Basically, setting up traps won't solve much if their already inside." Grumbled Frenda to herself, sighing as her hand reached for the small pistol that was hidden at the small of her back and hidden beneath her clothes. "At the very least, I can use the tape; so it's not a complete-"

Before the statement could be completed, something in the air had been detected as she breathed. It was a scent, a very familiar scent at that, of something that no one her age should normally be familiar with. Due to the amount of lighting in this particular area, it would not be difficult to locate the source of the smell, thus she hastened her pace; the pistol she had been reaching for now firmly in her hand as she paced forward. Blue eyes darted in every direction as she moved, her ears listening out for even the slightest disturbance, and her nose slowly leading her towards the source of the odor. She only needed to walk eight feet before she saw it; the small indention about half an inch in diameter with a small hole directly in the center of it. The shell casing that was laying lifelessly on the ground only further proved what she already knew; and that was someone had fired a gun recently.

Once she reached a certain point in her advancement, her blue eyes eventually fell onto the person whom had most likely fired the shot. Said owner was lying on his stomach on the ground, his attire consisting of a black suit that was unfitting for the location he was located in. It was clear that he was dead, but the evidence that lead to that immediate conclusion wasn't based on blood; rather it was the unnatural angle of his head. Killed by breaking his neck; a simple yet effective means to eliminate a hostile obstacle without creating too much of a disturbance. This only further proved that this had been the intruders point of entry into the facility and would have been a effective means to entering undetected had the gun-shot not gone off. Had she been normal, a clear indication of murder would have left her a panicking mess of a person. But, as indicated by her actions reaching to this point, she was not and thus only viewed the body as just another nuisance that needed to be cleaned up once the job was over.

At face value, he would have appeared to have been just a victim who was at wrong place at the wrong time, but she wasn't chalking anything up to circumstance or coincidence. Someone who was dressed in the manner that he was should not have been here, thus leading her to assume he belonged to a private party of some sort hired for this job. In addition to this, Academy City followed the same anti-gun laws as Japan, meaning civilians weren't even legally allow to hold a gun, much less possess one. The only firearms that were legally allowed to possess rifles and shotguns, and even that took no small amount of time and paper work to sift through in order to get it.

That only meant one of two things; either a member of ORDER had misfired, which was unlikely, or this man was a part of an independent party; which was obvious at this point. After all, the liaison had stated that ITEM would be providing assistance to keep ORDER from their objectives, so the man here could have very well been a part of that group which they were to assist. But, despite all of this, one question still remained at the forefront of Frenda's mind; something which made her reach for the phone in her skirt-pocket.

"Basically, why hasn't Mugino called yet?"

As Frenda flipped the mobile device open to call the individual in question, a sudden and startling noise erupted not far from her current position. The noise in question was yet another familiar element to this world, one that should not have honestly invoked surprise upon hearing it. To be fair, however, it was mainly due to how sudden it was that caused her to jerk at attention. Once the initial shock died away, a soft-spoken curse slipped off her tongue as she quickened her pace towards the source of the disturbance.

Said disturbance was gunfire, and it was coming from the floor above her; which confirmed that ORDER was indeed present and being pursued at this very moment.

* * *

During the course of these assignments, it was required to expect abnormalities to present themselves at any time and from any place. It was required to adjust to changing conditions that may or may not occur on just about any job which was assigned to them. One may label these things as common sense, or maybe refer to them as a rule when one thrives in this life. The over-all success and survival rate drastically increased once one is capable of adjust their plans accordingly when things grow in intensity due to unexpected alternations that occur. Of course this wasn't an easy task to perform without experience; as a hastily made decision can ultimately lead to disastrous consequences that could potentially cost a person their life. Despite this, it was inevitable that someone somewhere may have perished as a result of that lacking experience or poor judgment, but that was the price one paid to gain experience in the long run.

The only sure-fire way to get something right is to get it wrong and reflect on those mistakes so as to avoid making them again in the future.

While exceptions to this did exist, the fact remained that those exceptions were too few in number and thus disregarded by the majority.

Mugino herself wasn't one of those exceptions, nor would she ever have claimed to have been to anyone who was daring enough to ask. She fumbled in the past, she made mistakes, poor decisions; but in the long run those failures are was lead to her eventual success. She wasn't a veteran soldier, she wasn't a tactical genius, but if circumstances allowed it she could re-devise her tactics to befit the situation accordingly. But that was only if circumstances called for it, if the situation was dire enough to warrant her to revise her plans to such an extent. It couldn't be said that occurrences like those were rare in number, rather she was often fond of changing things to sate her murderous tendencies. What was rare when it concerned adjusting her plans was her calling for support; which usually never bode well if all members of ITEM were called in to handle a situation. In the event that she would openly call for all the members of her group to converge on a single objective or target, any could guess of the severity of the situation and how quickly things could escalate should they not heed her call.

While this current situation wasn't as dire, Mugino was still at a disadvantage; something she was not pleased about in the slightest.

When she and Rikou first arrived at the facility nearly fifteen minutes ago, things had been relatively quiet. The militia that ITEM had come to 'assist' during this assignment had already set up a perimeter defense outside and evacuated everyone inside the facility. Essentially, the staff had long since been taken out of the equation and the interior was devoid of all life aside from those who were sent to guard it. All wore black suits with, each most likely baring protective gear underneath the attire; otherwise they would be considered fairly useless given their task and who they were up against. While it may have seemed rather petty and disorganized, the independent group was surprisingly well fortified and handled the situation like trained professional military force. She still pegged them all as cannon-fodder, but at least they knew what they were doing so she tolerated it. Because of the risk which could possibly surface during the course of this assignment, Takitsubo had been tasked to stay with her for protection and to provide information on their target's location whenever they arrived.

With the threat of other Espers being their targets, it was easy to assume that the best protection against them would be to have one in your company. Given the severity of the situation, leaving ITEM's tracker with a bunch of normal armed men and women, regardless of how professional they were, would not suffice.

As preparation neared completion and unaffiliated personnel was removed, all that remained was for Frenda to arrive and set up her own countermeasures for their 'guest's' arrival.

But, in the span of fifteen minutes, everything simply fell apart in a manner which Mugino could not have predicted.

For it had started with a single, distant, shot from a gun on the ground floor. That single bullet soon escalated into several more, though not a single person reported to have eliminated the hostile target. Security-feeds reported the intruder's location; but each time a group went to intercept them, the invading party would change their course to avoid them. The action itself wasn't entirely a problem, as the amount of armed individuals clearly outmatched the member's of ORDER significantly. What became a problem was that they continuously destroyed the security cameras wherever they went, slowly but surely making the security footage that was being monitored useless as time passed. Not only that, but it seemed that they were purposely remaining on the lower floors, backtracking through blind-spots created by destroying cameras and picking off anyone who they intercepted along the way before advancing up a floor.

The largest issue, however, came from a rather unusual source and the sole individual responsible for many of the mercenary's deaths whenever they tried to approach. The individual in question was a girl who was dressed like a track runner and was moving through the area on, what was reported to be, roller-skates. When reports of this reached her, she had honestly believed that someone was joking; but this notion was conclusive as she briefly witnessed the girl pass behind her.

It became perfectly clear she nor anyone in this building wasn't as prepared as they had originally thought; hence the mild annoyance. For even when Takitsubo had informed her that the girl's location was near, she had been unable to successfully hit her target. The fact that the girl had avoided it was troublesome; the fact that she did so as if knowing the attack was coming only made it unsettling. In that brief time-frame in which the two crossed paths, Mugino had been unable to successfully eliminate the hostile force. To make matters worse, pursuit was impossible given the pace which the girl was moving at. Roller-skates could not make a person that fast, not fast enough to travel down a long corridor in less time than it took for her to reach the corner while running. By the time Mugino had rounded the said corner, the girl was gone with the only traces of her being there being the skid-marks on the marble floor in the hallway. Rikou's report that she wasn't hiding in one of the office rooms solidified the assumption that ORDER had this building's layout memorized almost flawlessly.

To that, Mugino could not deny that this situation was not working in their favor; especially since ORDER was already killing off several of the armed forces which ranged from around twenty-five to thirty-two people. ORDER knew the building as like the back of their hands, they knew where to go to avoid the armed forces, and they knew where nearly every security camera was located. They thought this out, they were using their knowledge to the fullest; so much so that it was almost as if they were toying with them as they picked off their opposition one person at a time. In less than fifteen minutes since their arrival, seventeen of the armed unit who was sent here had been killed.

Though, Mugino did notice something about this group and the girl whom they had seen had been doing. From the moment ORDER was reported inside the building, Mugino had been constantly receiving information regarding the member's location via the small hands-free communication device in her ear or from Takitsubo herself. Yet, aside from that brief moment with the girl on the roller-skates, they had not encountered a single person from the invading party. Whenever they were reported to be near her, they would unexpectedly alter their route the moment they reached a certain proximity of herself and Rikou. Of course, it didn't take someone of her or Rikou's IQ to understand the meaning or the purpose behind this action. Mugino Shizuri was, after-all, a well known figure in the gritty underworld of this city and ITEM was a group that pretty much everyone knew of who was submerged in it as well.

ORDER was avoiding any sort of contact with her; most likely due to being aware of her status as the #4 Level 5 in Academy City.

A wise decision on their part, as taking out smaller and tedious targets first would serve a greater purpose in completing their object than to fend against her and risk failing to achieve their goal. She could only assume they were prolonging the inevitable conflict with her for as long as possible; dealing with her only when they no other choice but to retaliate against her. That method would be the course she would choose herself if she was in their shoes, so it was a logical assessment in her mind. That awareness, however, did little to relieve her ire as she continued to pursue her target's as more gunshots were fired in the distance. She had been following Rikou's directions since she was the only person around who could give accurate information portraying to ORDER's current whereabouts with all the security cameras being destroyed on this floor.

She was half tempted to bring down the entire building if it meant she could be rid of these annoying pests who could flawlessly avoid her to this degree.

"...There's a signal on the floor below us," One wouldn't think of it by looking at her, but despite all the running they were doing in this job, Takitsubo was doing a good job at keeping up with Mugino's pace and not appearing completely exhausted; though she was a bit winded from the amount of exercise she was getting today. "…I think it's Frenda."

"You think or you know; which is it?" Mugino's tone, though filled with mild annoyance, did bare a bit of concern within it as she regarded the girl running beside her as they gradually came to a stop for the moment. While it most certainly wasn't the most heartwarming way of addressing her comrade, it was very hard to blame her given how things had spiraled out of control in such little time.

"I'm not sure…" The vacant response which Takitsubo responded with didn't help matters either, given that her ability was not as precise as it could be at the moment. There was a means to remedy that lack of precision, but that would not all that necessary at the moment. They could only do so much damage to this facility and Mugino was still confident that they could take care of this problem without having to reveal their aces just yet. "…do you want me to call her?"

Instead of responding directly, Mugino chose to retort to the girl's inquiry by clicking her tongue as she reached into her pocket to retrieve her phone and quickly dialed the number. Since the phone was still new, she had neglected to set up her speed-dial function to all the members of ITEM; having been too distracted with the events going on around them at the time. As time consuming as it was, she was still glad she had gotten a replacement before all of this had occurred. Her number was the same, her contacts had been transferred over to the new device, so nothing was lost and no one among the group would have to change her number on their phones either.

But, in spite of that, Frenda seemed to be taking her time in answering her call; having gone through almost three ringing cycles before she had finally decided to answer.

"Frenda, what the hell are you doing?" Even though Mugino's patience was being tested more than she liked today, her tone was still relatively calm so long as those hearing it excluded the faint traces of annoyance in it as she spoke. "Now is not the time for you to be screwing around. I need you upstairs ASAP, take out the stairs leading on your way u-"

"Um..M-Mugino-san." Normally the interruption would have erected a lengthy verbal lashing from her given her state of annoyance, regardless of how well she was doing in hiding it in her tone. But usual conditions didn't apply when she was faced with a situation where, having called a specific individual, someone else answered in their steed. This person's voice certainly wasn't that of Frenda's, in fact the voice was actually someone whom she had recently come to know of within the past week. It was during that same and brief moment of confusion which allowed the person on the opposite end to finish speaking. "This may be a bad time to mention this but, um, I may have…accidentally grabbed the wrong phone when I left earlier."

She couldn't see his face, but she was sure if she had he would be looking rather sheepish at the moment.

If he could see her own expression, he would find himself fearing for his life given how her annoyance had practically skyrocketed to greater heights.

"Kaaamiiiiijouuuuu!" Growled out the young woman, her phone currently head in a manner similar to that of someone being throttled; which was most likely the action she would have taken had the boy in question been present. "I was wrong; you are definitely an annoying little pest! Calling you a rodent was giving you more credit than you deserve!"

"I knew it; I shouldn't have answered the call."

"I can still hear you, so stop sounding like some tired old man you fucking piss-ant!"

Had circumstances been different, the scene could have been a rather humorous one to look at from a distance. More than anything, one would feel relieved to have not been on the receiving end of Mugino's words at this given moment. Of course, anyone would want to avoid upsetting her in the first place given her reputation, but it could still be viewed with mild amusement if viewed from a certain perspective. Admittedly, though appearing in a daze half the time, Takitsubo would have possibly given an indication to such amusement had Mugino and herself not been busy with a job at the moment. In spite of that awareness, the girl in the track suit could not help but note how easily the girl had been aggravated just from hearing Kamijou's voice.

Perhaps it wasn't him though; maybe he was just the trigger that had caused her to finally snap?

But that was an answer she doubted she would receive any time in the future. As things were, they had a job to do and her mind was still trying to work her head around the fact that Kamijou had Frenda's phone. It wasn't so much of her eavesdropping on Mugino's conversation, but more so the volume on her new phone was at its maximum and thus allowed her to hear what was being said from the person on the opposite end of the line.

"Bah, I don't have time for this." Frustrated and her patience growing past its exceeded limit, Mugino clicked her tongue as she re-adjusted her hands so as not to appear to be choking the device nor run the risk of breaking it with her bare hands….again. "If you have her phone, hurry up and give me your number now!"

"Huh!?"

"Do you always need someone to repeat themselves!? Are you really that fucking slow you fucking pest!?"

"Mugino-san?" Attest to moments ago, Touma honestly sounded confused when he spoke. It wasn't the same level of confusion as someone who had misheard a statement. Rather, it was on a level of curiosity that was befitting to someone who hadn't heard the statement at all. "Hello, can you hear me?"

"What the hell are you playing at now? Of course I can hea-"

"I'm….-othing but stati….-ino-san?"

Pulling the phone was again away from her ear, she stared hard at the screen of her phone to determine the signal strength. Such a thing should not have been necessary, as they were in a communication facility in District 15, the district which primarily focused in communications and mass-media. As it turned out, however, the signal was slowly growing weaker and weaker as the seconds ticked by; something which made her glance over at Takitsubo. No verbal commands were spoken, yet Rikou already knew what was being asked of her. As her hand went to retrieve her own mobile device, she scanned the immediate area for any indications on this floor portraying to their target's current whereabouts. She could faintly detect one person within the area moving at a specific pace while another three signatures could be found in a stationary position; though only two of them seemed to have stayed together. In that span of time, she silently opened her phone to view her settings and noted that her device was also loosing its signal strength with each passing second.

"O…-hea…-san?"

She didn't even bother to answer, mainly because he wouldn't hear her anymore at this point anyway. For that reason, Mugino's phone was snapped shut before pocketing the devise and tapping on the small device within her ear. When nothing but static filled her ear, she could do nothing but guess as to what was causing these problems. Someone was jamming their signals from inside the facility; that much went without saying really. Whether or not it was just the phones or all their equipment was unknown; given that their target's could have taken down the remaining armed forces inside the building. Regardless of what the issue at hand was, one thing was still very clear to her right now.

ORDER was not as green as the girl's had expected.

Even so, regardless of how annoyed she was with the situation, she was slowly growing more interested in this little group of Espers. They proved to be competent in spite of the very little knowledge about them; having already taken out a majority of their opposition in less than half an hour. That warranted her attention to say the least, but not enough to merit leveling the building over. That was the fundamental difference between killing normal people and killing Espers. Normal people would automatically resign themselves and would be instantly be suffocated by their own fear. With an Esper, you could always expect a bit more defiance in them than in a Level 0; for they always had a bit more resolve to either survive or kill her. It was just fulfilling to see that resolve in their eyes during those moments and equally satisfying to watch it vanish when all their efforts proved to be in vain. Witnessing that was the true thrill of these jobs and acted as the real reward she savored in these assignments; not the money.

"Someone's approaching..."

At that, Mugino's attention returned back to the situation at hand as her attention went back towards Rikou as she stared blankly in the direction the person was approaching from. Again, while there was a means to improve her tracking abilities, the costs for excessive use was not a preferable option at the moment. While most members that made up ITEM were disposable if necessary, regardless of how unfortunate their loss would be, Rikou was someone who's talents were worth preserving for as long as possible. Trackers were easy to attain easily enough, even if their accuracy was lousy or limited to only one field. Takitsubo, however, was not only accurate but also capable of much more when her ability was used to its fullest. The only issue was that, achieving this gradually deteriorated her health and made her more reliant on it for her ability to surface. Mugino may care less about the girl, but there was a time and place for these things and, regardless of how bad the situation could become, she couldn't find it in herself to go that far just yet.

Having a general idea of the approaching individual's location via following Rikou's line of vision, Mugino chose to continue her advancement down the corridor. The heels of her boots clacking as her foot-falls echoed through the vacant hallway as she moved, whilst the beginnings of a smile gradually began to surface on her lips. The knowledge that someone amongst the individual's present in this building had finally taken the inititive to confront her could not have excited her more. While some would be formulating a strategy when dealing with an unknown opponent, she had no real reason nor desire to do so.

She was Academy City's #4 Level 5.

She was the Meltdowner.

Forming a complex strategy was only necessary when confronting an opponent that required such a thing. But let it not be said that she was mindlessly advancing into the unknown; that would be an insult to her character. Mugino was indeed planning something, but not a strategy to fend off this foe. What she was formulating was how she was to toy with this one, how far she should allow them to struggle before putting them out of their misery. Those were the musings of this particular young woman as she rounded the corner; with the only thing that could possibly ruin her mood being if the person approaching was Frenda.

That thought was dashed away into oblivion as a distant form was seen standing in the intersection in the far end of the right-side corridor. The person in question was a male and appeared to stand at an impressive height, not much taller than your average Japanese male, but still taller than what was commonly seen. He was not moving, his hands in the pockets of the faded jeans he was wearing while his half-lidded eyes stared back at her with an expression that was identical to Takitsubo's most of the time. His forest green colored T-shirt didn't appear to have any outlines underneath it, indicating that he wasn't wearing a bullet-proof vest underneath; though it was still hard to confirm given the distance between the two of them. Hell, the only real thing that stood out on the person facing her was that he was wearing a bulky pair of headphones over the messy mop-top medium length brown hair.

In spite of distance between the two of them, two sets of eyes found themselves staring back at the other. Wheither or not either party was aware of this was unknown, but what was known was that the person who stood on the opposite end of the spectrum was their enemy. One was based on assumption, while the other simply viewed everyone in this building as a threat, excluding the people that came with them. It didn't need to be said who the enemy was at this point, for each one was staring back at their respected targets in this very hallway. What neither party did, however, was react hastily. If anything, they were regarding this a bit too loosely considering the situation. One didn't wish to react while the other didn't feel inclined to; but both were intentionally stalling to see precisely who would be the first to make a move.

The first amongst the two of them to move was the young man across from her, though it was not in a hostile manner. Rather, he only moved his lips; yet despite being nearly thirty feet apart from one another, his voice was heard so clearly that he may as well have been standing next to her. His words had been simple, so simple that it was almost been a waste of air to utter them aloud. But he spoke them regardless in a tone that was easy to misinterpret for boredom; something which reminded her far too much of a certain other individual who used a tone similar to this person's. Unlike the boy who would remain nameless at the present moment, this person's tone bore with it not only an edge, but a feeling of indifference as he spoke those very simple words; thus the reason for her misinterpretation in the first place since both sounded largely the same.

Again, his words had been simple: his statement taking the form in a less-than-exuberant acknowledgment of her presence.

"Yo, Meltdowner…"

* * *

When it came down to it, jobs which often divided the group tended to end with one party feeling largely dissatisfied. Some jobs were more fulfilling than others sure, but like any other occupation there was always that one job everyone detests and does their best to avoid doing unless they are forced into it. You could complain to your heart's content, you could go against the orders and do what you pleased, but those actions ultimately had long-standing consequences that you would eventually need to be held accountable for. That was how things worked, that was the way everything in life worked; thus you were given two immediate options. Either you can suck it up and do the job or you can push those responsibilities onto someone who would do them in your steed. The latter, of course, hardly ever an option and quitting solved nothing thus it was an excluded choice.

With that being said, Kinuhata was often forced to choose the former given how irresponsible her co-worker could be at times. Outside of these assignments, Frenda was an okay person to be around so she had very few issues about her. They got along, they often bantered like any normal group of girls would do, and they both shared a few interests. But when it came to work, she saw the issues and the problems which were a direct result of Frenda's mishaps. A friend wouldn't say anything about it and ignore the faults; a good friend would tell you where you fucked up and how to amend the problem. It was similar to how Mugino often dealt with the blonde's mistakes, but handled in a much tamer manner than their Level 5 leader tended to do it.

Still, it had annoyed her to be stuck on, basically, guard duty until someone tried to invade. That had been the initial plan from the start, having already came to the conclusion that they would most likely target the research facility as well as the communications building. But all that had been intended by this portion of ITEM's assignment had been quickly shot to hell long after Frenda's departure from the research facility. Kinuhata, patient as she was in wait for the inevitable to occur, received a call from ITEM's backer and disclosed some rather troubling information that wasn't known during the briefing. Apparently, there was a project that had come before the prototype weapon she had was originally sent to guard. Ichijirou Yuuji's development plans wasn't just limited on heavy weaponry, but went to a much larger scale than previous imagined. Upon reflection, it made sense as to why he was selected to further develop the weapon she was sent to protect in the first place.

For he had already made a design for a different weapon; something much larger than a mere tool that any soldier with a working trigger-finger and decent aiming could use. Even if the project he had been working on was different in scale and functionality, it was still similar on a fundamental level. Ichijirou Yuuji's track record showed that he had taken part in a large-scale project that revolved around using white-light waves to produce a ground-based defensive countermeasure that could exceed past the earth's atmosphere. Missiles were largely considered useless against satellites from different countries eavesdropping on Academy City, so they had to create an alternative that was both effective and could easily be concealed within the city limits. Loosely translated, it meant that Ichijirou had played a part in developing a solar-powered laser used to eliminate any threat to the security of keeping all information of Academy City's technology from being leaked.

The project had been referred to as Limelight and was located within District 23 where most of the astronomic research was performed.

What made gaining this information so vital was that the facility which was used to operate that device was under siege. Privately armed groups had already reported that the security officer at the front gate had been shot and killed. That part didn't bother either female at all really; but what was troubling was that reports continuously stated that it was a single individual who was practically decimating the entire building; no one else aside from him was sighted meaning that it was someone working alone. Knowledge of that was what disturbed her, not so much for the fact that it was impossible, as she had done several similar jobs in the past. Rather, it seemed far too reckless of an action to proceed with unless properly prepared.

Evidently, that wasn't a problem for the individual who had broken into the facility; having been well prepared to handle whatever that was thrown at them with stride. Whatever his purpose there was, it was clear to all parties involved that he wasn't there for the sake of causing a little domestic disturbance. He was there to use Limelight, this much there was no doubt in anyone's mind at all. How he would go about using it was anyone's guess, but that was his intention and that was something that could not be ignored. Hence the reason she had been told to head to the facility herself; something that was taking far longer than either of the women would have liked. It couldn't be helped though, as there were few means to amend the issue of traveling from District 2 to 23 quickly given the distance between those two districts.

Saiai couldn't drive, her original method of transportation would take too long to return, and a public tram or a bus would take just as long to reach her destination.

Thankfully, the research facility she had previously been sent to protect was filled with adults who could drive. She didn't need anyone specific for the task, so she simply grabbed the nearest person she could find who owned a vehicle and demanded them to take her where she needed to go. That process had honestly saved her a lot of time in moving towards her destination, but at the cost of dealing with someone who was not affiliated with the job in the slightest. That mattered little in the grand scheme of things, so long as the lady providing the lift didn't ask too many questions regarding what was going on. That being said, when her phone received an incoming call, she had been skeptical in answering but ultimately decided that it was necessary.

"Kinuhata, what's your location." The girl in question didn't even have time to answer the mobile device properly before the woman's words immediately addressed the issue at hand. Saiai could understand given exactly how troublesome the situation was becoming, but it was still annoying nonetheless.

"I'm on the interstate right now, so I'll super be there soon if things hold up the way they are right now." Responded the girl, her eyes glancing over at the driver as she spoke. "What's super happening at the facility?"

"The conditions are getting worse; though I imagine you had already suspected it to go sour quickly." Informed the woman on the opposite end of the line; the tension evident in her tone even through the phone even though she didn't appear to be trying to conceal it. "It seems that the individual who's responsible has taken one of the operators of Project Limelight as a hostage. But we both know at this point that this isn't just a hostage situation we're dealing with. It's just too coincidental to have someone like that plucked from a crowd of people."

"Did Ichijirou-san still super have ties with that facility?"

"He would occasionally be called in to perform tests for a means to improve Limelight's energy consumption rate. Even with his assistance, the thing can only fire once an hour due to the massive amount of energy it requires to power it. That must have been the real reason why ORDER kept him alive for as long as they did, using him to provide information on the VIP staff that took part in that project. It also explains the reason why one of their members was able to navigate through the building with such ease."

"By why only one person; did they super think that was going to be enough?"

"At this point, I'm not even sure which of their objectives is the more important to them." Admittedly, neither did Saiai at this point, given how things were progressing. "I can't contact Meltdowner and Frenda has already been dropped off at the communication center. I can't get a signal to any of the operatives sent there either; so at the moment we're in the dark as to what's going on over there. What I do know is that, whatever the case may be, ORDER cannot be allowed to fulfill whatever objectives they are committing to."

Kinuhata had to refrain from commenting that was precisely the reason behind hiring ITEM to prevent such a thing from occurring. It had nearly slipped from her, but she was able to catch herself before she could say it; something she was grateful for. Still, there were too many things wrong with this situation, too many factors that were still shrouded in mystery regarding this assignment. ITEM had been caught completely off guard by the events that were taking place around them and ORDER was doing a damn good job at throwing fork-balls while ITEM and those supporting them were left swinging mindlessly trying to hit it. They were fumbling, but that was mainly due to the lack of information which was accessible to them portraying to ORDER as a whole. Had they been provided more information, had the group's movements been less sporadic, then it was possible that ITEM could have handled the situation well before things went out of hand.

"I guess being a lesser known group has its super benefits." This statement could not have been repressed even if she tried; it was just a fact that held too much truth in it to avoid admitting. "People like us don't tend to know what to expect from them."

"Normally I would say 'now is not the time to say that' but I can't help but agree." Let it not be said that ITEM and their backer didn't have moments where they could agree with one another to some degree. "For that reason, I'm going to call in a favor to take care of Limelight; I've received the green-light to do what needs to be done to ensure that it does not come into ORDER's possession. We don't know what they're planning to do with it, but the Board of Directors has come to agree that destroying it would be a far better option at this point than to let it go into someone else's hands. If we're lucky, we'll be able to take out two birds with one stone and take care of the individual within the facility as well."

"What are you going to send?"

"Something expensive, but in the meantime just step up your pace and get there anyway. Even if all you end up doing is identifying a body, I'd rather have you there and secure the facility rather than leave it vulnerable any longer."

The call ended just before Saiai could attain any real information regarding what was being sent to the facility. She could help but curse as she snapped her phone shut and put it away in her pocket. Receiving such a vague statement like that was precisely the reason why things had escalated to this extent. If the bitch had just told them the truth from the beginning, they would know what to expect and properly prepare for whatever is to come. But no, they were given information on a need-to-know basis; leaving ITEM completely in the dark most of the time while they sit in their office buildings and watch as everything unfolds from afar. By all accounts, someone like her should be used to this sort of thing, but that was far from the case. The client wants ITEM to do a job, then they couldn't afford to be stingy with the information that was at their disposal when it could lead to the overall success of the entire operation.

Such a fucking annoyance, that's what Kinuhata mentally spat as she fixed her gaze out into the distance from the window on her side of the car.

"Super drive faster."

"I can't, the spee-"

The metallic clacking of a something in the girl's smaller hands had been what interrupted her words shortly after hearing the disturbance. After the woman's eyes shifted towards the source of that noise, she let out a surprised gasp as her eyes consistently shifted from the road to the barrel of the small gun in the girl's hand. So startled by this new development, she nearly veered into another vehicle beside her; the poor woman's hands trembling heavily as she held the steering wheel with such intensity that her knuckles began to turn white.

"I said: drive faster."

Clearly, this girl was not in the best of moods and would not allow something like the speed limit to stop her from getting where she needed to be. That said, the innocent woman in this situation could do nothing but push down further on the gas as the car accelerated faster down the interstate; all the while doing her best not to divert her attention away from the road even for a second.

* * *

Bottom floor, everyone off!

Now, um, I'm gonna say that I'm not particularly happy with this chapter. I don't like it, I really don't, so if any of you feel inclined to shoot me for this chapter feel free to use the shot-gun on the table behind you. Seriously, I had so much trouble getting this out and I feel disgusted with it. I don't even know why, but something about it just feels so off that it's driving me nuts. Anyway, I'll take the flames of anyone who feels inclined to burn me to pieces, just be sure to put out those flames with constructional criticism and I'll be fine. Not much else to say here really; other than the fact that I still just don't like this chapter.

As usual, if there are any inquiries, thoughts, or concerns that arise in your mind, feel free to address them to me and I'll do what I can to answer them. Otherwise, I hope you enjoyed my little piece of work.

Goodbye for now.


	11. Beasts on the Prowl: Part 2

Greetings to all!

Just wanted to say thanks to everyone's honest feedback in regards to that embarrassment of a chapter I put out last time. I'm still not happy with it, but at least I not everyone found it as terrible as I believed it to be. In regards to my life issues mentioned last chapter, I'm pleased to say that it has been resolved and ended on a relatively good note, so I should be out of that funk that had a grip on me before. But, enough with this, onward with the eleventh chapter of A Certain World of Darkness!

* * *

For every assignment, be it large or small in scale, there was always to be a set order of events that are to be followed to ensure the success of the task in question. There are simple objectives which one must follow, steps to check off as one proceeds to further on down the chain that ultimately leads to the final objective. Each objective, be it primary or secondary, would yield differing results dependent on the number of steps that had been achieved successfully. Among those steps, Time is but one of the many verity of factors which can cause an operation to end with satisfactory results, or cause the operation to fail. There were several things which can dictate how good or bad the end result is, but time was among one of the most critical aspects that can either make or break an operation.

It all depended on the scale of the operation, but for assignments which dealt in a single area and weren't so wide-spread, speed and precision was a critical to seeing an operation ending successfully. For every second that was wasted, the opposition became increasingly more aware of what you were capable of. With every minute that was not being used to fulfill an objective, the enemy was coming closer to discovering the true intentions of operation. As the time reaches its thirty-minute mark, the chances of success grow dimmer and dimmer. By the hour, the operation has been deemed a failure or the person attempting to carry out the assignment is eliminated by the opposition. Time, no matter what, meant everything; no wasted movements, no fancy footwork, no glorious gun-fights with an entire squad of heavily armed individuals. These jobs were similar to walking on a tight-rope with no net to catch you; one fuck-up can lead you to your death. That was how these life-and-death situations worked, that was what separated them from those shounen manga antagonists who seemed to have all the time in the world to do their dirty little deeds.

That didn't stop Sakurai from reading them of course, but he seriously wished, just once, he had as much time to kill like those guys did.

But that was just the way things went in a 3-Dimensional world like this; a world which constantly restricted him and others to just the boundaries of this plain of existence. While Espers were a nice little bonus to the whole package deal that came with this life, just because he had power did not mean he was a excluded from the rules and laws of existence. Time still played a large role in this world, in this city, in this constant struggle of dog-eat-dog society. There was no escaping it, no eluding time, because time was a consistent enemy that would always be hounding at your heels the moment you slowed your advance. To Sakurai, armed men or women weren't his enemy, technology wasn't his enemy, people weren't his enemy; even the Board of Directors weren't his true enemy. In his eyes, all of the things listed and many more were just obstacles that needed to be moved aside to defeat the true enemy of man as a whole.

Time was his enemy and should a reason was required it was because it was never on his side; not even once.

For that reason, upon his intrusion into the Limelight Facility; Sakurai went straight to work with locating his primary objective. Though, he didn't choose to go gun's blazing and kill every person who was unfortunate enough to cross him as he traversed deeper into the facility. Performing such an action would have been a waste of bullets and time; not to mention it would trigger a station wide alarm which would provide his prey the opportunity to escape. So no, he didn't perform that action; rather he simply chose to walk as any normal person would down a hallway, reached the elevator, climb to the desired floor, and located his target's office. His actions weren't flashy, not stealthy, not with any of the characteristics someone would expect to find in a spy flick when an agent infiltrates a structure. Sakurai simply walked into the building like he belonged there and moved through it as if he was always familiar with it; nothing complex or tactical about it.

Of course, his Esper ability did play a large part in getting him here in the first place; considering what it did.

But, like usual, nothing seemed to go right from then onward. For the moment he entered the room and made his demands, the alarm was triggered in which most of the civilian staff began to evacuate and security entered the picture. Again, time was not his friend, and it seemed as though the little dirty business upon entry into the facility had finally found. Either that or the man had his own alarm in the room like in movies and fictional works; but he didn't have time to ponder those things. Things only got worse when the simple infiltration portion of the job escalated into a hostage situation; an improvised decision on his part but he had few options. He would have no way of knowing how to use Limelight without the man, and extracting the information out of him regarding how to use it would take too long.

Dry gunshots were somehow able to pierce through the loud siren when was still blaring throughout the structure. Following these gunshots, concrete dust burst from the walls near the corner of the hallway which Sakurai was using as cover to avoid the gunshots. Crouched to his left, a single average looking adult male coward beside him as his body trembled and shook upon hearing the gunfire.

"They're gonna kill us!" If Sakurai had a hundred yen for every time this guy said those words; he wouldn't need to do these kinds of jobs for money ever again.

"Kill me, more than anything." Muttered the well-groomed lad, his pistol having long since been brandished as his back was pressed against the wall; his gaze never leaving the corner as he watched more bullet-holes form onto the surrounding walls with more dust shooting up after each new hole was formed. "So long as you shut the hell up and stop saying that; you'll get to go home and see your family, or your dog, or whatever you have to live for."

The gunshots were fired in a synchronized pattern; one person was always sending shots out to prevent Sakurai from peeking out of cover to retaliate. During that time, someone else would most likely be reloading his weapon and proceed to cover the next person who needed to reload. With the amount of bullet holes in the wall, it was safe to assume that the people firing at him were at least a group of three or four but did not seem to be carrying anything other than pistols at the moment. He had no evidence to prove this, for all he knew there could be someone else who had yet to fire who would once the other gunman ran out of bullets. Regardless of how many there were or how many bullets they had, one thing certain at this point. They were stalling him for something and exploiting the fact that he had a hostage to keep him from moving too freely since this 'hostage' had some value to him.

Clearly these guys were well informed and if they were as well informed as he was to believe than killing the man beside him would benefit them all the same.

Unfortunately, the chances of them being too well informed were slim; thanks to the efforts of their previous benefactor's connections.

To the innocent bystander in this life-or-death situation, it was an odd sight to see the well-groomed lad reach into his pocket and retrieve a silver pocket-watch hanging from a long thin chain of matching color. With a tap of his thumb, the standard face of a clock was briefly noticed whilst the teen spared it a glance before snapping the lid shut once more. Using the same hand that was holding the watch, he unclipped the chain from the belt-loop on his trousers; using his index and thumb to hold the end of the chain and allowing the weight of the watch fall lifelessly to the ground. With a small tug, Sakurai began to twirl the watch like a flail just slightly above his person; before flinging the object past the corner he was using for cover and out into the corridor where the bullets were still coming from; all the while maintaining a firm hold on the end of the thin chain attached to it.

The instant that action was made, the bullets seemed to have ceased; with the reason why being pretty clear even if it was a mystery as to how it had happened. One moment the lad was beside him with his back against the wall. The next, he was standing at full height while three bullet-shells casings were clearly visible by his feet. It didn't take a person of high intelligence to determine that those didn't belong to the people shooting at them. But what was confusing to him was why he was standing out in the open where those bullets were originating from? Mind you, he would have been glad if the men firing at them had killed his attacker, guilty as he was admitting that. So long as they didn't kill him than he wouldn't have really cared; morality be damned at this point. But the way the lad stood made him seem calm, as if the problem was solve; something which both confused and terrified him.

It was only made worse when the teen turned his attention back onto him and pointed the still hot muzzle down at his head; gesturing with his head to stand up; which he proceeded to follow.

As Sakurai moved his hand to retrieve the case he had still been carrying on his person this entire time, the innocent man took a moment to try and peek past the corner. All he was able to see were two grown men in black suits lying on the ground and were not moving. Horrified and still largely confused as to what had transpired in that single moment, frantic eyes shot back towards the young man who had just retrieved his case and was still pointing his gun towards him with an expression of pure boredom.

"Move along." Even his tone sounded bored! Why was he so calm? What had happened to the continued barrage of bullets end long enough for some kid to retaliate? Did they run out of ammo? Were they just so surprised by his actions prior-…no, that couldn't have been it. If those two men were dressed in that manner and wielding firearms than they must be professionals. It would just be too amateurish of a thing to be distracted by a silver pocket watch. "I said move along, or do I need to shoot a finger off to get you to budge?"

"H-h-how did you-" He couldn't even finish his question; too horror struck and perplexed to formulate a proper pattern of words.

"Huh?" Confusion briefly replaced boredom as he took his hostage's words, before his eyes followed where the terrified man was looking and realized what he was inquiring about. "Oh, that, right, right. Well, I take this shiny thing here in my hand, squeeze the trigger, and BOOM; bad people go away."

It was of no surprise that Sakurai wasn't answering the man's inquiry on a serious level, given the response that was provided. How the action of killing was done wasn't what man was asking about and anyone with half of a brain could deduce that much. But one thing this innocent man was failing to grasp was that Sakurai was not inclined to answer anything unless he felt the desire to do so. He wasn't going to just answer questions that could potentially leave him at a disadvantage in the long run.

Clearly this man didn't know how hostage situations worked; a thought which absentmindedly entered Sakurai's psyche.

"You're not one of those bad people, are you?" Now it seemed he was getting agitated, and rightfully so since they had already lost a bit of time during this half-ass shootout. Even if he addressed the man with a question of such a degree, it didn't take much effort to notice the irritation in Sakurai's voice. Nor did he bother to wait for a response from his 'hostage' either; having decided to continue speaking to move things along in a timely manner. "If not, then get your ass up and move; we've got shit to do and I'd like to avoid wasting any more time and bullets on you."

Between the events that had just now taken place and the unspoken threat the teen had made, it was a no-brainer in what action this particular hostage had taken.

* * *

Time wasn't all that was necessary to ensure the overall success of an assignment; though speed was still a large contributor to achieving it. Preparation was also an equally large provider which determined the job's progress is not hindered as one advances towards their next objective. Blueprints of the area, possible locations where resistance can most likely be present, gaps in security where one could slipped through undetected. Those sorts of things and much more were to be taken into account when performing these jobs and were usually done prior to actually performing the task. If one was skilled enough, though preparations were still necessary, the one organizing the entire event could improvise with only limited information and still achieve success. It wasn't advised to follow through with this sort of operation due to the large number of variables that existed; but it was still possible if it truly came down to it.

Then again, improvising was pretty easy when you knew exactly where your enemy was constantly located and what they were thinking throughout the job.

It was for this reason that, when Chouka's form raced passed an intersection in the corridor, two shots from her own smaller pistol rang out as she passed; followed by the pain-filled cries of the person who was struck by the projectiles fired. That was the problem with Chouka when it came to guns; it wasn't that she was unable to use them or hit her targets. If she had been stationary than she could land a fatal shot four times out seven; but having to shoot while on roller-skates was no easy feat. Even if she knew exactly where the target was located to an extent, she still had to see them, aim, and shoot all in the span of a few seconds. Doing all of that in such a short timeframe was just too difficult a thing for her; even if she did get lucky a few times and dispatched her target's with a single shot. Those times had been scarce during the entire course of this operation, so it was only luck which enabled her to succeed in that task and not skill.

Close range, however, was a different case all together.

Instead of choosing to continue down the corridor she was previous venturing down, Chouka had instead adjusted herself accordingly to turn around back towards the intersection she had just passed. As she approached the corner, her body began to lower until she was crouching whilst the skates continued to move her forwards thanks to the gathered momentum she had used to turn herself around. By the time she reached the intersection, one of the individuals she had shot at stepped out in front of her person; his gun already raised but was left unaware her posture. By the time he had fired, Chouka had already rolled passed him, though not before grabbing the suited man's ankle with her free hand as she passed him. With that action, she proceeded to pull the man's leg along with her as she passed him, which inevitably resulted in the man losing his footing and collapsing to the ground, which was the only reason Chouma's advancement forward had ceased.

But here eyes were not focused on the downed individual behind her; rather it was the woman who was not too far behind him. While it was indeed true her advancement forward was stopped, it did not imply that she was motionless in that moment. Instead, with the man's ankle still gripped firmly, she used that as a means to redirect herself to where she could face this woman; caring little for the sickening crack that had followed as the man's bones were not meant to go in that direction so suddenly. Yet instead of using this momentum as a means to attain speed, she instead extended her left leg whilst properly adjusting her feet to allow the slender limb to spread out in a wide arch across the marble floor while keeping her remaining leg bent yet angling it in the same manner as the opposite foot. The sweeping motion of her leg combined with the element of surprise, the woman who had been hasty in her approach had both of her feet swept out from under her and thus joining her comrade on the ground.

Unfortunately, she didn't even have time to register what had occurred before another dry gunshot rang out through the corridor. With Chouka now stationary and the angle in which the woman had fallen, it was pretty safe to assume that the bullet fired from the gun still firmly in her free hand had left its mark the woman's forehead. It wasn't a high caliber round so her head didn't shatter to pieces upon bullet-entry, the end result was still not a pretty sight to look at given the amount of blood seeping out from the hole just a few inches short of her temple. She, however, wasn't keen on criticizing her own work so she proceeded with the other hostile who's ankle was being held at the moment. Without altering her posture in the slightest, and after releasing his ankle, Chouka had rotated her hips counter-clockwise to spin herself back around and face the man still on the ground. The only difference here was that his gun was raised and aimed at her properly this time.

Unfortunately for him, that didn't matter to her since she was already aware of this. Hence why, in an impressive display of agility, the very same extended leg rose up from off the ground as her body continued its rotation using the still retracted leg to both balance and provide movement in the same direction she was intending to go.

This action caused the heel of her foot to connect with the metallic material of the man's pistol and effectively knocked the weapon out of the man's grasp. By the time her extended leg touched back down onto the solid ground, the pistol in her hand was aimed right back at the man who was planning to shoot her. She did not hesitate in the slightest; there was no room to be hesitant at this point in time. She had no reason to, didn't want to, didn't need to, and thus she hardly ever did on these jobs. Hence why, after the three repetitive gunshots rang out and the smell of gunpowder wafted into her nostrils, she was not in the least bit concerned about the blood that had splattered on her. If anything, the smell that was filling the air bothered her more-so than the sight of a now deceased corpse with a head full of bullet-holes; her displeasure of the smell being indicated by the wrinkling of her nose, squinted eye-lids, furrowed brows, and the displeased frown that formed on her lips.

"Pew," Muttered the girl as she began the process of replacing the empty magazine from her gun. "At least I won't need to deal with this smell too much longer."

By all accounts, this operation was going along surprisingly well in her eyes. While the other's would more than likely believe it was going along too well for their liking; Chouka wasn't among that minority who's thought processes were more sophisticated than her own. She didn't need to look at the finer details or the search for the underlining meanings behind certain things that did and didn't occur. Paranoia wasn't her driving force during events similar to what was occurring now. For she was satisfied so long as things went accordingly and she carried out her tasks in a manner that would not put any more stress on anyone else. Over thinking a matter invited just too much trouble in her mind; for if you expect the worst to happen and are consistently perturbed about it than the worst case scenario was to happen. That was what she believed anyway, so she chose to simply not think about it at all and just move along.

Given, she was no fool herself despite having this mindset. While Chouka may not have been generously gifted in terms of intellect, she was smart enough to know when shit hit the proverbial and what she needed to do when that time came.

(Chou-chan, Kurou-kun's intercepted one of the Esper's in the building.)

Though the mental statement was heard, Chouka's gaze remained firmly on the ground as she continued the task of reloading her weapon. By appearances alone, she didn't show any sort of recognition in regards to what was being said to her. As previously stated, Chouka knew what she needed to do when the time came for her to take action. That statement was just one of the indications that informed her of her new task, something she was now aware of and preparing herself for at the present moment. While every member of ORDER had their uses, the Twins acted as the critical factors which dictated the overall success of the operation. They were the important one's here, they were what made their jobs much easier to accomplish, the true reason to ORDER's success. While she, Kurou, and Sakurai were the major pieces who actually performed the necessary actions, the Twins were the ones constantly feeding them the information that they needed. Information which was constantly being provided, which constantly gave ORDER the details they needed when they needed them.

(Fuck this hurts, damn brat!) This was one such accession, in which the person whom she had originally struck in her previous pass had survived and was seeking to retaliate now that her guard appeared to be lowered.

As a result of gaining this mental feed-back from the opposing party, not just Chouka but all of ORDER were all but immune to tactics from ordinary individuals who would attempt to interfere or intercept them. That was what made ORDER so dangerous, what made them so successful, what made them good at their job, and what made ORDER truly last as a group in this fucked up world. Hence the reason behind Chouka's calm nature regarding these people, her ability to move and act without caution, and what made her and Kurou the two most dangerous people in this building at the present time. With a loud click, the pistol was reloaded while the chamber was fed its first bullet from the fresh magazine.

With her weapon now rearmed, the girl in question simply align her sights with the individual who's thoughts had been made known and pulled the trigger. Unlike before, given her stationary position and her close proximity, Chouka's bullet hit its target in a noticeably fatal location. While it wasn't exactly the location she had intending to hit, the results still ended largely the same way; as the man's form dropped to the ground in a heap whilst clutching the side of his neck.

This was a less than prettier sight which Chouka couldn't bring herself to watch. Unfortunately though, she couldn't stop herself from hearing the man's gurgling cries as he tried to suppress the amount of blood pouring through his fingers from the wound inflicted on his neck. In the basic sense, he was drowning and, even if she wanted to, saving his life would be next to impossible in a few more minutes. She was smart enough to know that much and enough logic to know when it was okay to admit there was nothing that could be done to help. Even still, as the gurgling eventually ceased and the man's body finally lost all movement, she couldn't bring herself to look at the sight in which she had created. This was a rather hypocritical of her considering what she had done to the man's partners, but those were different in her mind. They had died without suffering any sort of pain; their deaths had been quick and painless. They didn't suffer, they didn't cry out like this man had, they hadn't even been capable of offering up any final words before she executed them.

They just died quickly, painlessly, and silently; and to her that was fine.

Killing someone in the manner in which she had just now only served as a reminder that she was still not completely used to this life.

(You okay Chouka?) Noboro's concerned voice was what eventually broke the spell that was binding her to this location; having caused the red-head to snap her head up to face the ceiling briefly. But even if his tone illustrated concern, Chouka was very aware that he knew why she was troubled.

"Don't worry about me, how are you holding up?" While the inquiry had been made through the mental connection, it did not mean she had to answer him mentally. She could speak what she wished to say as her thoughts would directly mimic her words the instant she spoke them anyway. This was actually a much better thing to do since it prevented unwanted thoughts that cropped up in a person's mind from being sent through the connection that was established. It was still bound to happen of course, but between listening to what was being said mentally and speaking aloud did a good job at minimizing unnecessary thoughts to be relayed back to Noboro.

(…it's getting easier, though it's still unpleasant.)

What Noboro was referring to of course was the lingering thoughts of those whose life was about to end. The many questions which they pondered, the panic as they attempted to struggled to maintain their grasp on life, the outrage they felt for the person who had slain them. These were just some of the countless thoughts that were forced upon both himself and others who were still bound to that person's thoughts. Fortunately, Noboro was able to disconnect them from those people so as not to hear everything that their victims were thinking in their final moments. In exchange, however, both of the twins were forced to endure those thoughts before they eventually faded away. In some ways, being the most valuable aspect of ORDER had its consequences and this was just one of those things which could not be avoided. But the one who almost all members of the group felt for was Noboro's sister, Nibiki.

You see, Noboro was not the individual who actually read people's thoughts, though he was able to do so with those that were connected to him. While the twins were both telepathic, their abilities worked in very different ways. Noboro's ability was referred to as Mind Jack, and allowed him to convey messages to the members of ORDER directly into their minds. His ability, however, could only be achieved by establishing a connection to the person whose mind he intends to relay information too. These 'links' only extend so far before the process of transferring information became difficult and causing a delay in the message he wished to send, while the closer proximity provides a much faster feedback rate. While it was indeed a very useful ability to have, there weren't any offensive capabilities that could be used to defend himself, thus making him vulnerable to opposing parties.

Nibiki, on the other hand, was not as restricted as Noboro was in terms of how her telepathic ability worked. Her variation was largely considered a standard form of telepathy which was dubbed as Notion Chaser; an individual who could detect and read the thoughts of others within a certain area. Said area of effect was limited to ten yards in total; though, if necessary and with enough effort, this range could extend a full yard wider for a short period of time. However useful Nibiki's ability was, she was incapable of 'touching' these minds and thus was reduced to only hearing and locating them. In addition to this, in situations similar to the one they were currently experiencing, too many thoughts coming in at one time could be stressful on the poor girl, especially if they are less than pleasant ones which she would rather not listen to. With the consistent thought-process occurring all at once, determining which thoughts belonged to which target was not so simple task for Nibiki achieve on her own.

Though, many of the issues that usually surfaced with this ability were eliminated from the equation thanks to the efforts of her brother and her own development since attaining this ability.

While it was true that her maximum range was ten yards in diameter, Nibiki had developed a means to avoid too much unnecessary thought-traffic from overloading her brain. While range was still a factor that played into account, but once a target was within that range she could concentrate solely on that particular individual or group by decreasing her entire field and focus purely on that particular target. In her mind, around her was a giant bubble that, once entered, she could hear all thoughts from all individuals within it. However, if she were to focus on a particular group of individuals, all she would need to do was shrink that bubble to only surround that particular group, thus allowing her to hear only their thoughts and not any other outside parties still within her ten yard radius. While this action does prevent her from having information on all targets within her field, it makes the task of relaying critical information to the corresponding individual's of ORDER much easier.

This is where Noboro's influence takes over, fully aware of Nibiki's inability to communicate directly with anyone on a mental scale. He acted as an operator, her voice, a relay device that would traffic the thoughts of those whose mind his sister was listening in on. By establishing his connection with his sister and the rest of ORDER, he would act as a hands-free, silent, thought-reading radio transmitter. By connecting himself to Nibiki, he would relay not only the thoughts of their opposition, but their general location as well. The timeframe which this information was disturbed being sent in the time it would take for a person blink; making it virtually instantaneous so long as the individual is not too far away from his current location.

While it was true that neither one of the twins was perfect, they made do with what they had and no one in ORDER was complaining about the results. The system they provided was, without a doubt, one of the most effective methods to dispatching their targets efficiently and effectively with fewer concerns in regards to what surprises were in store for them. After all, when you already knew what your opposition was planning and where they were going to appear, being taken by surprise was not very likely to happen very often. There were exceptions to this of course, but those encounters were not as common as one would expect; though Kurou and Sakurai certainly believed they shouldn't push their luck by relying solely on the twins for everything all the time.

With all that being said, there was key issue that was always a priority no matter what the situation may be. That issue being the protection of the twins themselves; having fallen short in terms of offensive capabilities and neither possessing the skill to wield a gun. It was hard to blame them really, they were still in middle-school for god's sake and no twelve or thirteen year old kid should ever be forced to carry a gun. That wasn't the reason they didn't carry one, though they never really came around to explain themselves in that regard. Sakurai was the one who introduced them into ORDER in the first place, and he had made it very clear that he personally didn't want to ever see them forced to kill someone. Hypocritical as it may be, given the amount of death they were forced to deal with in the first place, they at least had the luxury of keeping their hands clean from shedding blood directly.

Chouka couldn't speak on behalf of the twins or Kurou, but she personally agreed with Sakurai on the matter of keeping them away from actually performing the deed like herself and the others.

"I don't think it should ever get easier." Were the honest words of a lively young woman who didn't appear so lively as she uttered those words. Even so, she had been quick to dismiss it as she began moving back down the corridor leading her towards the twins location. With Kurou now keeping one of the Espers in the building busy, she had to do her part and ensure that they remained safe from any hostiles that may be within the area. "You're one floor up, right?"

(Yes, I already activated the jamming device Sakurai gave me; so most of their communications are down for now.) Responded the boy, silently glad for the change of topic as he stared at the monitor of the laptop in front of him. (Now all I need to do is upload the data-file Kurou-kun gave me and our work in this place is over.)

"Good." Despite the pace she was moving, the sigh that escaped from her lips wasn't one that came from fatigue; rather it was one created out of relief. It was odd how she could move at the pace she was and seemingly not appear winded in the slightest. Then again, the possibility existed that the roller-skates played a large part in keeping her from feeling too tired. "I'll be there soon, so just stay hidden until I get there."

(….)

"Noboro?"

(Now!)

"Eh!?"

While it had been previously stated that it was difficult to surprise anyone amongst ORDER thanks to the Twins, that didn't particularly mean that they couldn't be caught off guard if someone was not within Nibiki's range. That being said, when someone suddenly did appear inside the girl's region of effect, opportunities which the opposing force could exploit did sometimes surface. Hence the reason why Kurou and Sakurai had tried to avoid relying on their mental abilities when performing jobs such as these. Unfortunately, Chouka had a bad habit of relying on it too much depending on the severity of the job they were carrying out. It was a bad habit she knew, but given her circumstances it was understandable since her ability wasn't as versatile as she would have liked it to be. There was potential for it to be as such, but there were certain consequences that could be dire if squandered too extensively.

That said, just as Chouka received this mental statement along with that person's location, the trap had already been sprung. For in that moment, the low hissing sound could be heard directly behind her person. Still in a state of confusion, Chouka spared a glance behind her person, only to find not one, but five small orange and red flames advancing quickly upon her person. That much wasn't what bothered her, rather it was the engravings they left in their wake as they continued to follow after her; cutting straight through the marble floor as if it was made of paper. That wasn't the worst of it either, though it did inspire her to hasten her pace. As they continued to follow her down the corridor, these five fuses chasing after her developed into nine, all of which had branched off into several different directions but ultimately leading to one glaringly obvious location.

She herself had came down these halls several times since her arrival; not once during her runs through here did she see small dolls that were scattered about near the elevators on this floor.

When the fuses finally reached their destination, nine consecutive explosions erupted through the building; the force behind the said action being more than enough to cause the surroundings to rattle, glass to shatter, and fill the corridor with enough dust and rubble to nearly cause the floor to cave in on itself. Thankfully Academy City's buildings were typically built to be sturdy and endure lots of punishment. But the structural integrity of the building was not the biggest thought on Chouka's mind at the moment, having found herself in a coughing mess as she tried to shake off the lightheadedness caused by both the loud volume of the explosions and with the aftershock of nearly being blown to pieces. She was at least glad that she could move as fast as she could, otherwise she very well might have been caught up in the actual blast or impaled by the shrapnel. Instead, she had only fallen victim of the kinetic force of the explosion knocking her clean off her feet and rolling across the ground until finally being forced to a stop by the wall.

Though not everything on her person survived the blast, as her sweatshirt tied around her waste was now a singed, tattered, and overall ruined image of what it once was. While there were several light cuts on her body along with a few tears on her actual clothing, she had come out of it far better off than most people would have. About the only thing aside from her sweatshirt that was damaged were the skate-wheels on her left foot. But none of these really mattered to her at this point, for she was too busy clutching her head in an attempt to shake away the double-vision she was experiencing. By the time her vision had returned back to normal, the cloud of dust and dirt had finally settled; allowing her the time to analyze precisely who was most likely responsible for this occurrence.

The individual she found was honestly not the person she was expecting to see here of all places. Needless to say, when her offender had finally taken in Chouka's appearance, she too did not appear to have been expecting her to be there. For a moment, and only for a moment, two individuals of opposite sides shared a moment of unity as they acted in a synchronized manner that would have lead many to question if it had been scripted with the way it turned out. The said action consisted of both girl's, mouths slightly agape, rose one arm up with their index fingers extended towards the opposing individual across from them. While the two of them did react in a precisely similar manner as the other, Chouka had been the first amongst the two of them to speak first.

"You're that girl who was about to kiss her boyfriend at the mall!"

"Basically, that's not what was happening!"

* * *

All things considered, today was supposed to be another day at work for him. Things were to go about as they normally would, research results that required his attention, files that needed to be documented, status reports on the satellites in orbit, things of that nature. That's what Hirajima Yusuke was expecting of his daily life here in this facility, what he had come to expect in everyday life in Academy City.

But today's events did not follow that same repetitive procedure which he went through day in and day out. If anything, the events which were taking place now were so far outlandish and unexpected that he could not possibly fathom why they were occurring in the first place. Sure, he knew the real reason for him being forced to stay here, he knew of Project Limelight and how to operate it on his own. Such a thing wasn't hard, but it did not come without a price; said price being in the form of lot of surveillance. While uncomfortable at first, it was justified given that he was being entrusted with such a thing and it had possibly been the single reason he hadn't been killed on sight by the suited young man.

Said young man was currently pressing the barrel of his gun against his head whilst Yusuke's fingers practically danced across the controls belonging to the Limelight system. Currently, they were in the observation tower that served as the operation controls for the aforementioned project. All four sides of the room were covered in tented glass, as the solar panels that were used to power the device would otherwise blind anyone inside the room from the sun's rays reflecting off the panels. But none of those things seemed to matter at this point, as he could not have willed his head to move upwards even if he wanted to. He was too stricken with the fear of what was to become of him should he not abide by the suited teen's orders; and one could not particularly blame him really. With the muzzle of a gun hovering a few inches near your head, the very same gun used to kill several armed men and women who had tried to intercept them on their way here. Yeah, that same instrument of death was now being pointed at him and there was little doubt in his mind that the teen would use it on him if he didn't do exactly as he was told when he told to do it.

"Hey, you're twitchin's starting to make me nervous." If Yusuke had the guts and a death-wish, he could have called the lad out right then and there since his voice did not waver at all as he spoke. "Relax…deep breaths…count to three…don't fuck up now, I'm counting on you here."

Sadly, Yusuke did not have the backbone nor a death-wish to speak out against the lad who had made him into a hostage. It didn't stop him from mentally screaming at the lad for all the negative shit that had happened since he showed up. How was he supposed to stay calm or relax with a gun nearly pressed against his head? How in any way was this teen feeling nervous when, not long ago, he had casually dispatched any armed forces that tried to intercept them? That part he was still in the dark about in regards to how he had done that; more specifically how he had killed them all without getting injured at all throughout the entire time he had been inside the facility. Yusuke wasn't given the privilege to ask again, mainly because he was too scared to, but it was clear to him that suited young man was an Esper. That was the only conclusion he could really reach at this point, though he hadn't really seen an Esper demonstrate their abilities up close before; having been satisfied from watching them do their own thing from a safe distance.

With that assumption long since been made, the real mystery that remained was what kind of ability did this young man have?

"There you go, see?" The satisfaction in Sakurai's tone was not missed by Yusuke as he spoke, and had he been looking at him then one would have seen the brief sightings of a smirk present on his lips. "I told you, all you needed to do was relax a bit. Now, input these coordinates, fire this thing and you get to go home with all your pieces intact."

He didn't get a chance to look up, not even for a second, before a piece of paper was placed down in front of him, though in a place that was devoid of controls less Sakurai fucked anything up by accident. When the man read the information presented to him, hesitation in his actions became evident as his fingers remained motionless for a few moments. That changed when the muzzle of the gun pointed at him was harshly pushed up against his head. Needless to say, after that, he regained his dexterity and proceeded to follow through with his forcefully appointed task.

"Wise choice friend." Commended the lad, though the serious edge in his voice spoke volumes of how little of his patience remained. After several seconds of waiting, something in the distance suddenly caught his attention, something which caused his mood to improve despite knowing what was coming. "Well, it's about damn time that thing showed up."

While Yusuke couldn't actually see it, he could feel that Sakurai's gun was no longer pressed against his skull, taking note of the sound of his shoes as he moved away from him. Though that didn't reassure him much given the fact that there was only one way out of this room safely, which were the direction Sakurai's footfalls were heading towards. After a few moments, the distinct clicking sound of a case was heard, followed by the several more which almost caused the man to turn around and see what exactly Sakurai was retrieving from the metal case. It was a mixture of worry and confusion which almost made him act on the impulse to look after having noticed that, since his capture, Sakurai had never left that case out of sight and was constantly pulling it with him everywhere they went. Whatever was in there, it seemed to be important; possibly an a rifle or something of the sort. Whatever was inside it, however, seemed to need to be put together; as the several clicks of metal connecting and attaching themselves could be noted by him even if he couldn't see it.

"Hey buddy, since you work in this District, have you ever seen a HsAFH-11 before?" Unlike before, it seemed like a genuine question address to create conversation. Whether or not Yusuke answered, or was even felt implied to form a response, had not once entered the lad's mind when he made such an outlandish inquiry. "I mean, sure, helped develop Limelight and all, so I can only assume you've at least seen the specs for the Six-Wings before; right?"

"N-not…really." Honestly, he really didn't want to answer him, truly he didn't. But then again, he didn't really feel as though keeping silent would help his odds of getting out of this situation safely. It did, however, make him curious as to why the lad brought it up so out of the blue...along with precisely what he was talking about in general. While Limelight was military technology in some ways, it's purpose was used mainly as a precaution against other countries spying on them rather than to be used as a weapon. That was what he was told anyway, and he wasn't the type of person to ask questions unless they would affect his life in some way. While the situation was different here, he was far from comfortable with the situation to ask questions since his life could be taken away on a whim of the teen behind him.

"Really; you've never seen one of those Six-Wings before?" In response to his question, Yusuke merely shook his head having felt the gaze of the teen staring at him. Though his response didn't seem to bother Sakurai at all since he carried on with his words after receiving the non-verbal response. "Well, damn, you're a kill-joy."

Several gun-shots soon fired after this statement was made, which was made Yusuke duck down further and clasp his hands over his head to avoid the falling glass hitting him in the face. Whatever the lad was doing, he was choosing not to look up just in case another hail of bullets was about to tear through the now opened window. Had he looked up, he would have seen something far more dangerous than just a group of armed men and women with guns approaching. In that span of time, Sakurai had finished assembling the weapon inside the case and had already propped the shaft of the weapon onto the ledge of the now broken window. Based on its appearance, one would think it of it as a normal shoulder-mounted weapon like a rocket launcher. But appearances were meant to deceive, thus the reason why this particular weapon was special.

"Did you know that, in Greek mythology, there was a man named Icarus whose father made him a pair of wings out of wax and feathers? That must have been a bitch to do, but that was way back in the day, so I guess it sufficed at the time. Anyways, his father had done it so that him and Icarus could escape Crete via flight, but told him to not fly too close to the sun or the sea." Stated Sakurai as he peered into the side-positioned scope on the gun, his target already in his sights and approaching their general area at a pace that was honestly difficult to keep up with through the scope. Difficult, yes, but doable enough to not lose sight of it and still keep it in his sights. "But Icarus didn't listen his father's warning, curious as he was about the idea of flight; though I don't blame him since I'd be pretty hyped about fucking flying too. But then he got too close to the sun and those wings made of wax melted and he fell back down to earth and into the sea."

Without further warning, Sakurai pressed down on the trigger for a few moments and watched with anticipation as a single burst of bright orange light burst from the barrel and towards his target, tilting the barrel upwards shortly after firing it. It was only because of the scope's enhanced zooming feature which allowed him to bear witness to the sight of the approaching helicopter literally being cut in half from the left side and up. He must have struck the fuel-tank too, since the military vehicle did not even begin its decent back down to earth before exploding in mid-air. At the sight of that, Sakurai couldn't help but feel a rush of excitement go through his being as the explosion's volume was heard clear as day from where he was. Even Yusuke, who had only looked up having heard the weapon's firing mechanism go off, fell into awe at the destruction which was created from just a single shot of that gun.

"I think it's fitting that the Six-Wings suffered the same fate as Icarus." Uttered the young man, speaking mainly to himself rather than his company as he removed the shoulder-mounted weapon and left it where it was before standing back up. "But, that's beside the point; is that damn thing in position yet?"

"Um!" Forcefully snapped out of his stupor, the man hastily returned his attention back onto the monitor overlooking the control panel. After quickly tapping on a few of the controls, he found the results he was looking for and provided confirmation. "Y-yes, it's in place."

"Cool, now get me a visual." His demands were simple in words, and the equally hasty response that followed soon showed off the results as the monitor's display changed to show the image of their designated target. That was the additional factor about Project Limelight, in that it worked in conjunction with the other satellites in orbit to ensure that they didn't miss their intended target. However, when the display appeared and Yusuke's brain processed what was on the display, he couldn't contain himself from voicing his thoughts as the color of his skin began to pale until it was practically pure white all over.

"T-t-that's-"

"Yup, that's it." It was, oh so, clear now to Yusuke in regards to this young man's mental state. Clearly, this lad must be insane due to how casual he was making this out to be, given what was on display. "Academy City's over-ambitious nature in corporal form: The Tree Diagram."

* * *

End of the line, time to explain myself.

Now, as you see, this chapter is purely dedicated to the member's of ORDER, since the last chapter was dedicated to to ITEM. Before anyone starts complaining, which I'm sure some will, let me say that I did this because I wanted to actually delve into the minds of my characters this time around, seeing as how you guys know next to nothing about them. I mean, what's the point of making these characters if you don't see things from their perspective as well, you know? As such, this chapter is primarily based on explaining a few things in regards to how ORDER operates and to give a few explanations behind some of the group's abilities; though not going too far in terms of those who are actually going to be fighting soon. But until those fights pop up, I'll just leave you guessing as to what their abilities are or have you come up with your own conclusions.

While this chapter may have had a lot of 'gun-action' in it, you can at least be assured that next chapter you actually get to see some one-on-one experience between Chouka and Frenda. I may end up dedicating a whole chapter around that fight, but that all depends really.

As usual, if there are any inquiries, thoughts, or concerns that arise in your mind, feel free to address them to me and I'll do what I can to answer them. Otherwise, I hope you enjoyed my little piece of work.

Goodbye for now.


	12. When Monster's Dance

Greetings to all!

Some of you may find this hard to believe, but I'm not surprised by the mixed responses I've gotten last chapter. I say that since I expected more negative feed-back rather than positive. All the same, I still knew in my gut that some of you out there would enjoy what I did. Overall, it was nearly equal in terms of both positive and negative; so I'm not troubled by it. But that's enough from me, enjoy the long-awaited, head-to-head, conflict between ORDER and ITEM in this chapter of A Certain World of Darkness!

* * *

For better or worse, as sudden as it was, Chouka was thankful that the blonde girl's retort to her previous statement yielded enough time for her to act. The said act itself was the trivial task of removing the skates on her shoes now that one of the pair was damaged beyond redemption. She could only thank the high heavens that they were merely attachments that could be applied to any set of footwear; otherwise she would have been forced to go barefoot in this place. If anything, their removal may have been the wisest action she had made for more reasons than just one.

As the blonde girl opposite her raised her arm up towards the cap-wearing young woman, Chouka acted upon hearing the girl's thoughts in regards to what she was raising. From what she was using, where it was being aimed at, and the amount of time she had left to act before the trigger could be pulled. All of which was fed to her in less than an instant, which proved, once again, to be a great asset to have. With that knowledge, before the girl's actions could follow through, the red-head hastily raised her own fire-arm and fired a single shot in the girl's general direction. Whether she hit her target or not didn't matter so long as the girl's self-preservation instincts kicked in and made her cease to find cover. The blonde did exactly what she had hoped, which was all she was looking for as she scrambled up to her feet and made a dash towards the staircase entrance.

(Too easy.)

Having received that mental statement, Chouka's actions stopped just as she opened the door leading to the staircase, which prompted an almost inaudible click to resonate from the opposite side of the door. Fortunately, she hadn't completely stepped through the doorway when she heard it. Hence why, with her hand still on the doorframe, she harshly pushed herself back with that single arm as hard as possible. That action may have saved her life, but the kinetic force from the explosion that followed still did its job at sending her flying backwards and into the opposite wall. At the very least, she faired much better than the door, which had been blown off its hinges with shrapnel covering the entire frame from top to bottom.

Frenda, who had watched the entire spectacle, could only grin in satisfaction when the girl slammed into the wall; her body falling in a lifeless heap shortly after making contact. Disappointed as she was that the bomb wasn't what killed her, she did find the sight of her rocketing backwards to be a rather enjoyable show to witness up close. With the girl now appearing motionless, the blonde stepped out from behind her cover and made her approach; completely disregarding caution since it was apparent that her target was unconscious. She had to admit, though, it was a shame that this encounter was so easy to deal with; but she couldn't complain but so much since it was just one step closer to getting paid for this job.

"Stupid girl." Mocked Frenda as she stood over the track-runner's unmoving form with the pistol aimed at the back of her head. "Basically, you are way too easy."

"I could say the same about you."

Before any sort of retort could be made, hell before Frenda could be surprised or even pull the trigger, Chouka's lifeless form suddenly sprung back to life. With her back against the wall and the side of her body laying against the floor, the arm closest to the girl shot up and effectively backhanded the side of the weapon being pointed at her. Said force behind the action was enough to knock the firearm out of Frenda's grasp and sent sliding along the floor, leaving Frenda without a weapon and Chouka at an advantage. With her upper body now raised, the red-head quickly moved further on the offensive by using one of her legs to sweep the blonde's own out from under her, though Frenda had enough sense to avoid this action from occurring and getting some distance between herself and the downed girl.

In gaining some distance, she had unknowingly done what Chouka had wanted; and that was provide enough time to allow her to spring herself back up to her feet. Cursing lightly under her breath, Frenda took a single step forward before using other leg to send a strong round kick towards Chouka's midsection. But the opposing girl was already aware of what was to occur, and thus she had already shifted her weight to the side whilst simultaneously using her hand to catch the girl's ankle and her arm to lock her leg in place. With Frenda's leg now trapped in her hold, the red-head used this opportunity to send a similar kick to the girl's ribs. While the attack was blocked by the girl's arm, the momentum from her attack and the noticeable difference in leg-strength was evident due to the slight hiss that escaped from Frenda's lips.

Despite the pain that had shot up through her arm to her shoulder, Frenda was still able to form her own attack despite the obvious disadvantage. With one leg still firmly on the ground, she used a good potion of her own leg-strength to jump in place and pulling it back far enough to launch the sole of her foot into the offending party's abdomen. The action itself did succeed in knocking the air out of the girl, thus causing her to release her hold on the blonde's leg as she proceeded to cough harshly. Having been released, Frenda quickly adjusted herself whilst still in mid air to catch herself using her hands and spring-boarded herself backwards to land perfectly on both feet; though apparently without injury as pain surged through her previously struck arm as she performed the task.

Unfortunately, the blonde wasn't given the proper amount of time to regain her bearings as Chouka once again went on the offensive. With the distance between the two of them being so narrow and the difference in height, it was no surprise that the red-head didn't need to move but so far in order to be in range to attack. Having said that, Frenda was forced to duck down to avoid being struck in the face by the opposing girl's round-house kick that flew over her head, before countering with a quick jab to the girl's ribs. Before the kick could connect, though, Chouka's body had completed its cycle from performing the previous attack; thus she was able to raise the appropriate leg up to block the attack before it could meet its mark. With the attack blocked, Chouka took the opportunity to hop off her free leg in an attempt to land a right straight to the girl's face whilst simultaneously dropping her other leg to keep herself from falling.

Frenda, however, was no slouch when it came down to this game; thus she hastily forced herself to fall backwards onto the ground to evade the attack. With her back on the ground, she placed both her hands on the floor above her head while pulling both her legs close to her chest area. Using the momentum provided by the shifted weight of her legs being pulled up, she pushed herself off the ground with all her strength to perform an improvised dropkick to the girl's chest. The red-head, not having the time to avoid it, merely crossed her arms across the area that was to be struck as the soles of the girl's pumps slammed into her forearms. The force was enough to stagger her backwards a bit; which served as enough to allow Frenda the means to get back up off the ground and continue on the offensive.

As Chouka's staggered backpedaling ceased, the heel of the blonde's pumps was merely inches away from landing soundly on her cheek had she not adjusted her head to avoid it. When that attack failed to make its mark, Frenda twisted her body to allow the same momentum to spin herself in place and send another strong right strait at the girl's midsection, which was promptly caught by her opponent with both hands before it could connect. Regardless of her attack being caught, the blonde chose to once again hop off her stationary leg to sent yet another kick to the girl's face; caring very little at this point if she was to fall to the ground as a result. When the tip of her shoe connected with its target, Frenda allowed herself to feel a sense of victory at the successful hit.

The sense of victory was short-lived when, just after her foot connected, pain shot up from her side as her opponent's kick connected with her ribs. Because of the fact that she was descending on that particular side, not only was Chouka's leg-strength put into the equation but also her own descend back down played a part in the overall power the kick had possessed. The fact that her opponent's legs were a bit longer than her own also played a part in the amount of damage which was being applied. Still, neither party had left the confrontation unscathed, though between the two of them Frenda had been the once to receive the most damage. As Frenda's form collided with the harsh floor and Chouka braced herself against the wall to regain her bearings, a low hiss could be heard coming from the blonde's lips as she clutched her side as the painful sensation persisted.

"Not bad blondie." Despite the fact that she was clutching her head, Chouka's statement was devoid of pain that would normally be present in a person who had sustained the amount of damage she had within the past couple minutes. "I didn't think those twigs of yours would have much of a kick to them."

"Oh, really?" Despite the pain she was currently, Frenda succeeded in standing back up on her first attempt whilst still clutching her side. Though it was apparent that the jab made at her had an effect, as vein could clearly be seen protruding from her forehead as she made the retort. "Basically, I'm not surprised those chubby stumps of yours have so much weight behind them."

"Ch-chub-chubby!? Let's get one thing straight here, this isn't fat, it's muscle! More than those boney twigs you call legs could ever hope to have!"

"Basically, my thighs don't jiggle when I walk!"

"At least I'm not hiding my legs behind pantyhose to hide how boney they look!"

"It's called fashion, something you basically know nothing about!"

"I'd take this over looking like a tramp any day, thank you!"

It was inevitable that one of the two females present would snap at some point; and in this case it had been Frenda who had finally acted out of her own anger to resume the fight. By this point, completing the job was a secondary goal for her; she could really care less if the job ended well or not. So long as this bitch ended up dead, then she would be content; killing the red-head herself would only serve as a bonus to her. With that, and with little regard to the consequences of losing her cool in a serious conflict, Frenda rushed forward with enough murderous intent to make Mugino proud.

In her state of infuriation, Frenda was not able to notice the small smirk that was playing at Chouka's lips; obviously knowing something critical that would allow the outcome of this conflict to shift in her favor.

* * *

"Tell me it's supposed to be doing that." Stated Sakurai with a hint of annoyance in his tone. As he said this, his finger was pointing at the monitor with his finger while his body leaned over Yusuke's shoulder in the chair. "Please tell me that's what it's supposed to be doing."

By 'that' Sakurai was referring to the unexplained loss of visual on the Tree Diagram which was being targeted by Limelight. But this was not all that was happening either, far from it actually. By the frantic look on Yusuke's expression, it seemed that he was at a loss himself as to what was happening. The terminal he was using would not respond to anything he tried to do. His actions had been just as hysterical as his expression, hastily tapping on the keys in front of him; yet yielding no changing results. Nothing was working, not a damn thing was happening, and while Sakurai wanted to pin the blame on Yusuke for fucking it up; he knew the who the real culprit was. Or, at least, he had an idea as to who may have been responsible.

"I-I-I'm locked out of the system! It's n-not responding to any of the override commands!" Yusuke's panic was justified he supposed; given that Sakurai hadn't done much to ease him of his stress since they got here. It was hard to stay calm when you're a hostage; especially when the person who abducted you had a gun and was not afraid on using it on you. "P-please, I don't know what's going on either; I swear!"

"Cool your tits; I get what's happening here." While still mildly aggravated by this development, Sakurai's tone indicated more irritation than actual anger as he moved to retrieve the weapon still propped up by the window. "I knew this was going along too easy; down in my gut I knew it."

Having already removed the weapon from its perch, he moved back over towards the metal case which previously housed it before applying the strap that went with it to make it easier to carry. Having accomplished this task, the well-groomed young man's expression shifted into a pensive one as he tried to think of an alternative means to carry out his objective. The Board of Directors must have had something to do with this; as they did possess all the cards in the deck that made up this city. They didn't do much in terms of labor, but they had the clearance to do just about anything they wanted so long as all members on it came to an agreement. Limelight was obviously one of those cases, but why did they bother sending the Six-Wing here if they could just shut down the means to utilizing the project anyway?

"Hey buddy, is this the only terminal we can use?" There had to be a reason why they sent that helicopter, if not to eliminate them than to destroy Limelight itself.

"Th-the only one I know of is the workstation that operates it directly." It wasn't hard to believe that Yusuke was still nervous about the whole situation; having seen Sakurai retrieve the weapon that had easily destroyed a military vehicle with only a single shot. "The only problem is that it's located next to the satellite and getting there involves passing through the solar panels."

"Which translates to: we'll be walking through there with our asses showing." Finished the lad half-jokingly, scuffing lightly as he hoisted the heavy weapon up to allow the strap to slide onto his shoulder. "Can it be hacked into by an outside source?"

"It's possible, but since it's connected directed to the satellite, it should still be functional without interference."

"If that's the case, then shouldn't need to re-align it once I get there; all I'll need to do is fire it and it's done, right?"

"Theoretically, yes."

"Good enough for me; now show me how to fire this thing and you'll be off the hook." Having reached a verdict, Sakurai resituated himself behind Yusuke as he waited to observe how the firing process worked; though not before adding his last few bits of information that his hostage should be privy to knowing. "But if that thing doesn't fire when I do this, rest assured I'll find and kill everything down to your pets. I'll also be sure to record it on my phone so you can watch it all happen in first person; then kill you. Are we clear on that?"

By this point, the thought of double-crossing Sakurai was had not once entered his mind. It had long sense been clear to him that the lad meant everything he said and would carry it all out without the slightest bit of remorse. For this reason, Yusuke couldn't nod his head any faster without giving himself a whiplash before proceeding to both explain and display how the firing mechanism worked. It had been a little longwinded in the teen's opinion, but his threat must have really done the trick in making the guy spill everything regarding it. By the time it was over with, Sakurai had pretty much grasped how to perform his task without this guy's help anymore. Sakurai wasn't a professional hacker in the slightest, but he did have a good memory and was at least half-way decent at the aforementioned task; though not nearly as good as some.

"Alright then, I'm off!" Announced the teen as if parting ways with an old acquaintance or a co-worker at some part-time establishment. "Just tell them you were under duress and you should get off scot-free. Hell, you may even get a paid-vacation from all of this!"

The sound of Sakurai's chuckles was all that could be heard as he moved to exit the observation tower when something soon caught his attention. Given the elevation, it was hard not to notice something that was going on down below. Difficult as it may be to tell what exactly was going on, one could still see those down below quite clearly if they focus even a little bit. That being said, thanks to the broken glass, it was much easier for him to notice the gleam of something down on the surface. The only problem was that a civilian vehicle was not meant to be on the facilities grounds; the parking lot was fine but the parking garage was down below, not above ground.

So why was it that there was a car driving down below them and why was there someone sitting on the window ledge of the passenger side door?

It wasn't until she raised something up into the air that warning bells in his head went off; thus causing him to let his instincts take over and rush through the exit and down the flight of stairs that lead up to the tower. The following explosion and the trimmer that came after his hasty departure spoke volumes as to what had occurred. Having already dealt with a good portion of resistance that showed up to stall him, it was to be expected that reinforcements would arrive once the initial strike-team had been dealt with. But as Sakurai spared a glance back where he had previously been not a few moments ago, he couldn't help but shake his head before carrying on his way.

"What a shame, I was starting to like that guy too." Despite saying this, there hardly any real remorse was noted to be in his tone as he moved towards the nearest exit; brandishing his pistol once more as he moved. "Oh well, survival of the fittest I suppose."

Several minutes of hastened steps, Sakurai finally found an exit that lead to the outside of the facility. Cautiously opening the door leading outside, he checked all sides for any sightings of the vehicle that approached or anyone remotely near his location. Finding nothing, he lowered his firearm and proceeded to begin his trek towards the vast array of solar panels that obscured the towering satellite in the distance beyond. Whether he walked or he ran mattered little as the distance between the facility and Limelight was a little over a mile apart from one another. If he paced himself, he could possible arrive there in less than half an hour; assuming of course he didn't face any resistance getting there.

But he knew better than to think that he was one of those stereotypical villains in some manga who could go about as he pleased undisturbed. Something always happened, something was bound to occur which would hinder his progress. And he was right, for he hadn't even reached passed the very edge of the sea of solar panels before the roar of a car-engine pierced through the silence that surrounded him. A fleeting glance back revealed the same car that he had seen above approaching him at speeds far exceeding the speed limit on the highway. Of course this wasn't a public roadway; hell it wasn't open to the public at all, so he assumed few fucks were given in regards to how fast the driver was going.

When the sounds of gunshots reached his ears, Sakurai took to running towards the nearest panel's thick support beam; reaching it just in time to hear the bullet's ricocheting off the sturdy material as they struck it. Tucking away his pistol for the time being, Sakurai re-adjusted the heavy weapon still held via the strap onto his shoulder before moving out of cover and taking quick aim at his target. With a simple push of a trigger, a familiar orange beam of light burst from the muzzle of the weapon. Unlike the Six-Wing he had shot down, the car had performed a sharp turn to avoid the direct shot aimed at it; though nearly spinning out of control as a result. Still, even after nearly avoiding the laser, the car continued its advancement towards him, along with a few more gunfire shots coming from the passenger side window; forcing him to go back behind cover to avoid them.

With the vehicle drawing closer and time being wasted away by the second, Sakurai once again removed himself from his cover to make another attempt at hitting his target. Of all the power that the heavy weapon provided, he could not afford to be wasteful with his shots. Each time he used this thing, the energy supply diminished for every prolonged shot he made. From what he understood, judging by the number of uses he had done with it, he could only fire it three more times before the energy supply dried up. If that happened then he would only have his pistol left and he only had two magazines left to use. He couldn't afford to be wasteful here, and if that car was allowed to move freely than it could thanks to the gap in-between the panels.

Needless to say there was a lot of pressure at this point; which was precisely the reason Sakurai took his time to aim properly despite the chance of being hit by the shooter in the side window.

With another push of the trigger, the beam shot out and towards the still advancing vehicle. Unlike before, it didn't have nearly as much distance to allow it to maneuver around the beam. As such, when he fired, the car swerved to the side in an attempt to avoid it once again; only for it to end with poor results. He hadn't hit the car itself, but he was lucky enough to hit the rear tire; melting through the rubber like butter and causing the car to veer off course and spin out of control until it slammed driver-side into a nearby support beam for one of the panels. And as hard as Sakurai tried, he could not suppress the urge to grin like a child after getting a new toy for his birthday.

"Fuck I love this thing." Satisfied and no longer concerned with the vehicle or its passengers, the well-groomed young man removed the heavy weapon off of his shoulder, readjusted the sling used to hold it, and made a hasty advancement towards his objective. "I swear if I get out of this, this baby's staying with me."

Had he looked back or even been paying any attention at all to the now totaled car, he would have witnessed a young girl kicking the door to her side of the car off its hinges; all the while appearing completely unscathed by the crash. Said girl may have largely remained uninjured, but she was still clutching her head as her world continued to spin in circles. The driver, on the other hand, was obviously killed in the crash; the blood that covered what remained of the driver-side door providing enough evidence to support that conclusion.

"That wasn't a super fun ride." Muttered Saiai to herself, shaking her head repeatedly to clear her head if even a little bit. "I better get a super bonus for this; nobody said anything about lasers being involved."

Technically speaking, a laser had been involved, but not one that threatened to cause her any direct harm. Being fired at by someone with an actual particle weapon changed things significantly, since her Offense Armor most likely wouldn't be capable of blocking it. She wasn't one-hundred percent sure of this, but taking a risk of testing the theory out wasn't on her list of priorities at the moment. While on the subject of a particle weapon, Kinuhata began to ponder precisely how her target had managed to get a hold of such a thing. She knew that Ichijirou Yuuji had helped develop a weapon, but reports claimed that the very weapon he was providing assistance on was still at the facility she had originally been stationed at.

Clearly that report had been false; but if so how did this man get into the facility and take it without anyone being aware? Why wasn't the weapon reported as missing yet? Did ORDER force the developer to recreate the weapon or did they actually sneak inside and take the previously existing one? So many questions that couldn't be answered surface into the mind of the short haired brunette; all of which were put aside for the current moment. If she was to get answers, she would just need to extract it from the current owner of the weapon. That was assuming he was willing to cooperate after she beat him senseless; otherwise having him spill his guts was going to be a real time consuming task.

With her priorities in place and her world no longer spinning, Kinuhata Saiai reloaded her gun, took a deep breath, and began her pursuit of the suit-clad member of ORDER.

* * *

"Yo, Meltdowner…"

That simple, lethargic, greeting was all it took to have Mugino's complete attention fixated on the lad standing at the opposite end of the hallway. Despite the ten yards of distance that separated the two of them, she had heard him speak those words so clearly it was disturbing. It wouldn't have been had he yelled this statement, raised his tone to a higher degree because of the distance between them. Yet, when it reached her, she could detect no signs of it being raised passed a certain threshold. It was at a comfortable level used when speaking to someone who was standing not even a foot away.

From that simple lackluster greeting, Mugino had already gained a bit more insight in regards to what she was dealing with.

"You have me at a disadvantage." Spoke the girl, the volume in which she spoke being raised to a higher to allow the teen across from her to hear her words clearly. "You know who I am, but I don't quite recall who you are."

"Should you be surprised?" Once again, the response that was given was weary and dry, but still at same level as it had been previously. "You're reputation precedes you, Meltdowner."

"My, my, you flatter me." Responded the girl as a single hand rose to toy with the long locks of her soft-tea colored hair, whilst the beginnings of a smile began to slowly surface on her lips with each passing moment. "Of course, if what you say is true, then you must know what becomes of those who get in my way; correct?"

"…I've been informed."

"If that's the case, then I hope you have come to terms with what awaits you."

From the outside looking in, one could not deny that it was a real spectacle to witness how effective Mugino was with her ability. For the instant that she had finished speaking, three sphere's of energy came to life around her; followed by the streak of greenish energy being fired from those spheres in the direction of her opponent. Due to the fact that this was one of the main corridors within the building, the hallway was noticeably wider than narrow passages that branched off from the main one. That being said, while there was more room to maneuver than she would have liked, it was tolerable if only because she could exploit the abundance of room provided just as much as her target could.

Said target was the one who was currently using the generous amount of room to his advantage as he maneuvered around the beams of energy being fired at him. He, of course, wasn't foolish enough to believe that the initial strike was all she could manage, not once looking back to survey the damage dealt to the building as a result of her attack. Mugino was a Level 5 for a damn good reason and if what he had just witnessed as all she could manage than he would be inclined to have doubts about Academy City's ranking system. What further influenced this line of thinking was that he had requested no mental feed-back for the moment, though not for reasons such as arrogance. He had made the request only because he was growing concerned with Chouka's status, having not received a report about her arrival to the twin's location.

After avoiding the initial blast, Kurou's right hand reached out behind his back to retrieve his pistol before opening fire as he began his advancement forward. By the manner in which the shots rang out, it seemed more as a means of suppressing fire rather than him actually aiming for a target location. Unfortunately, the moment Mugino had caught sight of the black metal of the gun, she had already began the proper preparations to defend herself against the firearm. By the time he had fired, the sphere's that were once hovering around her converged to the palm of her outstretched hand, forming a large shield of pure energy. If the energy wasn't so bright, she may have been outright amused by the sight of those bullets melting away into dust as they connected with her field. But, even if she didn't witness that particular event happen, a thorough amused Mugino could do nothing to keep the smile from finally completing itself on her lips.

The moment the gunfire ceased, Mugino shifted back to offense with, literally, a flick of the wrist. In the instant that action was made, the shield that was crafted drastically shrunk in size as it contorted back into a single sphere of energy having in front of her palm. As it continued to shrink, two smaller traces of energy detached themselves from the mass of energy and also formed into matching sphere's, though noticeably smaller in comparison to the main shot. Once all three sphere's had formed, she simply watched as the beams of energy shot out towards the advancing party, the largest of the three heading directly into the teen's path while the smaller of the three fired along either side of the main attack.

Kurou, while aware of the method behind her attack, was in no way of truly knowing the scope of how large or small her attacks would be. That was something he wouldn't ever possibly know, since Mugino's thoughts didn't depict how much energy was to be used. That was the real danger here, for if he didn't know the output of the energy she was using to attack him with then avoiding the attacks would still hold just as much risk as not knowing where the attacks were going to go. That portion of the problem, however, was taken care of since she was at least mentally aiming at him; but again that meant nothing if he couldn't determine how much energy she was planning to use. Even so, he managed to avoid getting hit by her attacks, though the pistol he had been using was now useless courtesy of one of the stay beams cutting the barrel just a few inches away from the muzzle.

Tossing the now useless hunk of metal aside, Kurou's hand reached towards the small of his back. Unlike the previous action, he did not retrieve a firearm; instead all a loud clicking noise was what followed as he moved his arm back out into view. Whatever he had retrieved was just as quickly thrown to the floor, the canister rolling along the flat surface of the floor near Mugino's position whilst spilling its contents as it moved. The contents within the canister was simply white smoke and a lot of it; easily enough to engulf the entire passageway in a fog of white clouds that was rapidly hindering the girl's visibility of her target.

"Smoke grenades?" Despite it appearing as a question, the amusement that was evident in her tone depicted that she was disbelieved by her opponent's choice of action. "Do you really think that's gonna keep me from finding you?"

"Not really, no." One thing that was growing increasingly annoying about this boy was how difficult it was for her to locate him through sound. With the volume of his voice and it seemingly appeared as though he was right in front of her as he spoke, tracking him through speech was not going to yield any results. The fact that he was sounding more and more like a certain boy she knew of wasn't helping much either. "But I work better with the element of surprise at my disposal."

"It's a shame that the only one that's gonna end up being surprised is you." Having said that, Mugino spared a glance over her shoulder towards the ever silent Rikou; who had chosen to remain hidden since before the conflict had ensued. "Takitsubo, if you would."

"…eleven-o-clock."

Without further warning, a single shot of green energy raced through the cloud of smoke in the location which was specified by the track suit wearing young woman. Upon entry, the area in which the beam had traveled through parted a few inches in diameter, providing the Level 5 with a brief moment to see through the veil which had coated half of the hallway. But, as before, it seemed he had managed to avoid her attack once again, something that was steadily beginning to wear on her patience. Regardless, Rikou continued with her task of locating her target, but time after time she never managed to successfully land a clean hit due largely by the smoke he was hiding in. Before long, Mugino's impatience got the better of her, thus she simply fired multiple separate blasts into the cloud hoping to either catch an image of him at least once.

Absentmindedly, Mugino was both curious and relieved that the fire detectors seemed to have been disabled. She was relieved because she didn't want to deal with drenched clothing after all of this was done with, but curious as to why they weren't functional in the first place. It was possible that the lad was planning to use them from the start, but was it worth all the hassle to ensure that they would be inactive?

Before any further thought could be processed in regards to that matter, something suddenly burst from the cloud of smoke, rolling at a rather fast pace toward her exact location. At first she believed it was another smoke grenade, but that thought was instantly discarded when she saw that, why still in a canister, it was far too large in size. Once she saw the hose that was attached to it, she realized that it was a fire extinguisher, something that wasn't so out of place since it was to be used in the event of an emergency. The question remained, though, as to why he had performed this action at all; given the fact that he had no firearm anymore since she had severed his gun not long ago.

Upon further examination, however, she was quick to understand the reason for this odd action; if the flickering red light near the top of the canister was of any indication. With its advancement drawing closer, Mugino crouched down low as she calmly re-applied her shield just in time to hear a particular sound that stood out that originated from within the cloud of smoke. It was a sharp whistle, one that was loud enough to echo down the opposite end of the hallway behind her. Exactly when this noise was heard, the flickering light ceased, shortly followed by a loud bang as whatever was attached to it detonated. The amount of pressure inside the canister, combined with the explosive force of whatever was attached to it, caused the object in question to shatter into several pieces, propelling the metal frame of the object at speeds capable of piercing through the thick concrete that made up the walls and the tearing through marble floors. Thankfully, the shrapnel was not capable of bypassing Mugino's shield, but it did only further prove one particular factor about his mysterious opponent from inside the smoke-screen.

"So my assumption was right after-all." Announced the girl, her shield fading out of existence as she rose back up to her full height. Her expression was largely the same as it had been since the beginning, but one look in her eyes would be all someone would need to realize that something had changed. "I suspected that your little voice trick played a part in what your ability was, but now I guess this confirms my initial theory."

"…okay, I'll humor you; what was your assumption?"

"At first I thought you were just throwing your voice, but those headphones of yours would make that task harder to do since you wouldn't be able to hear precisely how high or low your pitch was. The fact that you've kept it leveled at the same degree this entire time to avoid me tracing you through sound waves emphasized that throwing your voice wasn't the case here. And after what you did just now, I've come to conclude exactly what you can do and why you've only been using tools this entire time and not your Esper ability. My guess is that you're just some low-level Esper who can control sound waves to create high or low frequencies. While I will admit that make-shift bomb you used was a nice trick, if this is all you have to offer than I'm severely disappointed with what ORDER is capable of."

For a while, there was only silence as Mugino gazed back at the cloud of white smoke that persisted in keeping the lad out of her line of vision. As she stood there, waiting for a response from the lad hiding within, it was clear now what had changed in those shaded brown eyes of hers. Before, there was excitement and a bit of thrill in facing an unknown opponent; but now that excitement was lost and replaced with monotony upon reaching this conclusion. Her opponent wasn't worth her time, and while playing a game of hide-and-seek was fun at first, she had come to accept that there was no real challenge against someone who could do nothing but hide from her and use tactics that would be rendered useless against her. Then again, finding anyone who could provide a challenge for a Level 5 like her was a fruitless battle unless it involved another Level 5; and even that depended on who the individual was.

There was, of course, that brainless fool of a youth that had caught her interest, but he was a different matter that still required being addressed at a later date.

"…you're on the right track, but your theory is wrong." That simple statement was all it took to cause the girl to break away from her previous train of thought and instead cause her to raise an eyebrow at the lad's statement. "But, I won't waste my breath in telling you what my ability is. How about I just show you the extent of what I can do…and why you shouldn't ever underestimate the members of ORDER."

* * *

By all accounts, it shouldn't have been his business to answer the call that had been made to someone else's phone. In every way, he should have just ignored it and dialed his own number to inform the real owner of the mix up. He should have done that, Kamijou Touma should have just let the phone ring and carry on with his day like any normal person would have. But that was not the case, he had answered the call; and even though the voice on the other end couldn't see it his face had been set in an ideal image of complete confusion at the demands being made. Sure, they weren't being directed at him but the actual owner of the mobile device, but it was still an odd request for the crazed girl to make.

He may not be the brightest individual in the world, but when the phrase 'take out the stairs' was used, it usually implied that something need to be blown up. That wasn't a term to be used lightly by someone whom, he assumed, was just your everyday Esper in this city. By her tone alone, he could assume she was being dead serious about whatever she was talking about. But what would cause her to make such a bizarre statement like that in the first place? That was what he wanted and yet, at the same time, didn't want to know about. As curious as he was about the statement, something more pressing quickly overlapped his desire to understand the phrase she had used.

The static which he received in the middle of the call prior to the disconnection was something that was honestly worth his concern. As far as he was aware, for someone to lose their signal anywhere within the jurisdiction of Academy City was as unheard of as him having a lucky day. Hell, it was hard to imagine anyone losing a signal anywhere in this city considering how advanced everything was; excluding certain exceptions. He may not have known what those exceptions were personally, but there was sure to be at least one or two places which acted as a dead-zone within the city. The problem he had, in conjunction with his gut feeling, was that Mugino's signal had been lost mid-conversation and yet she was inside of a building which should have had a good signal in the first place.

That bothered him more than he realized; as, shortly after the girl disconnected, he began shifting through the applications on the phone he currently was in possession of for a GPS. As far as he knew, the phones in Academy City all had the same GPS application already installed, some being more advanced than others. But even with his personal outdated mobile device, he could use the GPS to locate another mobile device so long as he had the right code for it. The problem was, and something he realized once he found the function, that the code changed every half-hour. Back when he had it, he didn't have any need to perform such an action; now he rather wished he had now that his concern had been raised.

He may not have gotten along with any of the girls, excluding Takitsubo, but a combination of odd statements and just as peculiar occurrences tended to yield at least some concern.

But with so few options and the desire to truly involve himself in the situation dimming, Touma was just about to leave the matter alone when a notification icon on the mobile device suddenly appeared on the far right-hand corner of the screen. As previously stated, by all accounts, it shouldn't have been his business to go snooping on someone else's phone. But this particular icon was for a news site that fed all subscribers with the latest information occurring within the city by students acting as amateur reporters. Some of them were just pointless news articles; most others were pictures or live streaming of current events occurring in their general area.

Personally, Touma never visited the site himself, hell he never really paid much attention to those things in the first place. So when the icon appeared, his typical response was to simply ignore it and put the device away. Given his still curious mind and with little better to do, he gave into temptation and allowed the icon to direct him to the site. What he found when he reached the designated page, however, revived that concern in his gut as he played the video that was posted. The video was only two minutes long, the commentator of the said video was clearly an just your average student filming and a majority of it consisted of the individual in question filming some building where gunfire was supposedly heard originating from. That knowledge was hardly what caused Touma to feel restless, but just as the video was nearing its end something very familiar burst out from the side of the structure; something that was very hard for Touma not to recognize.

It was a single, bright green, beam of pure energy which he was certain belonged to only one particular individual he knew of off the top of his head.

Having realized it on the first glance, Touma tried to replay the video from the beginning for the sake of regaining some rather critical information in regards to what was going on. But, as soon as he hit the play-back button, a message appeared on the screen pretty much telling him that the video wars removed. Now Kamijou's anxiety turned into full-blown alarm as he refreshed the page again in a vain attempt to have the video play back at least one more time. The results ended all the same, and thus Touma was forced to recall everything the spectator had commented on.

"District 15….gunshots…" Counting with his fingers, Touma began to verbally list off all the significant information the commentator had made prior to seeing Mugino's Meltdowner at work. After several moments of silent perturbed musings, Kamijou realized that the most important fact that could help him was eluding him from actually performing any sort of action. "…fuck, what was the name of the building!"

He needed to think, but with the very real danger that was currently going on at the moment, remaining calm became less and less like a priority. Kamijou, in spite of everything that girl put him through, couldn't just let her be in that situation. The thought that she could defend herself just fine without him did honestly cross his mind, but what if things escalated? What if something happened, something she couldn't have been prepared for? Would he be capable of simply letting this whole thing go and carry out the rest of his day knowing that she could very well be in legitimate trouble? Could he just allow another person to get hurt, worse yet killed, simply because he chose to overlook it?

The answer to that question was a given.

Of course he couldn't, he wouldn't; even though he had every reason in the world not to.

"Seiren!"

Hence the reason why, once his memory finally kicked in on the facility's name, he reopened the GPS to locate the facility on the mobile device he possessed. Since he had been chased a rather good distance away from the underground shopping center, he had fortunately been moving west the entire time. That meant that he was already relatively close to District 15, which also meant he was not too far away from where Seiren's Communication center was located. With the borrowed phone as his guide and resolve providing him the energy he needed, Kamijou Touma ran as fast as he legs could carry him to the designated location. All the while, the lad was praying to whatever higher being that pitied him would allow him the means to get there before something terrible could happen.

* * *

Okay, chapter's over, now for some talking from me.

Now, again, I'm very aware that my actions last chapter have had a lot of mixed responses. Some liked it, some didn't, and that's fine really. I'm not gonna rant and tell people to STFUFO since that won't change things. I just feel the need to remind most of you reviewers that this arc. serves a purpose outside of just the overall story plot. Said purpose is to test out things I should and shouldn't do for future arcs. to come. This is new to me, so I kindly ask for your pardon if the previous content was not to your liking. I'm just reminding you all that I've never done something like this (a non-canon arc) before, so your responses, harsh or not, are being heard and the mistakes I make in this arc. will more than likely be amended in the ones to come after this one.

That being said, I hope that this chapter gives you all what you have been wanting this entire time; some real action and some plot development. Now that everything has been explained in the previous two chapters, I won't have but so much info dumping to do. And while I can't say that my tenancy to be wordy at times will fade, I'll do what I can avoid adding unnecessary content to the events taking place. However, if this one is still too wordy for you, then all I can say to in regards to it is that I want you all to actually visualize the fights going on as they happen as clearly, but not overly, as possible.

One last thing; the actual chapter itself. As promised, this chapter is mostly action based with the only two bits of non-conflict being Sakurai's scene and Touma's. Hey, I couldn't leave Touma without having at least some feasible reason to get involved in the conflict now could I? That and I got tired of the Communication Center not having a damn name. As for the Mugino/Kurou fight, though dull in my eyes, will escalate in the next chapter. Don't worry, I promise not to disappoint; action-scenes are my true specialty as I've come to re-realize if the rapid speed this chapter was produced is of any indication.

As usual, if there are any inquiries, thoughts, or concerns that arise in your mind, feel free to address them to me and I'll do what I can to answer them. Otherwise, I hope you enjoyed my little piece of work.

Goodbye for now.


	13. When Monster's Dance: Part 2

Greetings to all!

I'm glad to see that people enjoyed last chapter's epic-battles getting underway; I guess I'm not as rusty in that department as I thought. Before we get started, I'd like to inform you all that there's a poll open on my profile to those interested. It's mainly to sate my curiosity, so drop in and cast a vote if you feel inclined to do so. But yeah, that's all there is to say really, so I'll cut to chase and just let you enjoy the chapter of continued conflict between ORDER and ITEM in chapter 13 of A Certain World of Darkness!

* * *

As a typical rule of thumb, it was always important to take care of whatever business that may hinder a project or assignment beforehand to avoid any issues from surfacing during the course of the job. Make sure you had all the ammo you needed, prepare a backup weapon, have a means of escape on standby, put your phone on vibrate; those sorts of things. Those were the kinds of things one always had set up before actually going out and performing the task; for in the event that shit went south then proper preparations were in place to ensure that you at least got out of it fine enough. Among the list of things leading up to the job, one was actually of significant importance, something that was told to every child growing up before a long road-trip, and one thing that Sakurai had failed to perform prior to coming to the Limelight facility.

To put it simply, he had to pee.

Hence the reason he was mentally kicking himself repeatedly in the groin as he ran in the direction of the massive satellite in the distance; severely annoyed by the amount of time he had wasted because of the little pit-stop. For someone like him, who viewed time as his greatest enemy, taking even a two minute stop was a massive setback on his agenda. Manga villains didn't take piss-stops in the middle of their plans; at least none of the villains he had seen anyway. They either held it in like the bad-ass they were or just took care of business before carrying out their deeds. But reality just _had_ to remind him that he wasn't in a 2-D world, he just _had _to have that last cup of coffee before coming all the way out here, and he just _could not _hold it in. Now he was forced to haul-ass with the heavy-ass laser gun to make up for lost time from both the pit-stop and from dealing with that car not long ago.

"3-D sucks; I wanna live in a 2-D world where shit works in my favor for a change." While the tone sounded relatively angry, it would have been better to say that he was more-or-less whining. "I mean really, what kind of bad-ass takes a piss break durin' the middle of a job!?"

Annoyed as he was, Sakurai at least was grateful enough to know that his objective was steadily drawing closer. Even after moving only three-quarter of a mile he was still able to make out what looked like a shack that was positioned near the base of the satellite. All he had to do now was keep on going, avoid wasting any more time, and he would be able to finally fulfill his job here. The problem was, as much as he treasured his new favorite toy, the damn thing was causing him more strain than he would have liked. Its weight obviously causing both discomfort and hindering him in terms of progress; not to mention the thick metal repeatedly slammed into his hip as he ran. At first it wasn't a problem, but after getting hit with it time and again, it would gradually begin to hurt like a bitch.

But when the familiar sound bang of a gun-shot rang out, Sakurai's concerns about discomfort vanished along with his patience in regards to nuisances. Instictively, his body jerked downwards to cover his head whilst still moving forward; scrambling towards the only source of cover he could find. As more gun-shots fired, he could easily hear the bullet's bouncing off the thick metal of the beam he was hiding behind over his own erratic breathing.

"Geez, what now?" Groaned the teen in between pants as he rearmed himself with his pistol, peeking his head out from behind his cover briefly before darting it back as more shots rang out. "Seriously, these people just keep popping up like cockroaches."

So far, from the amount of gun-shots he had heard, five or six bullets had been fired. If the gun being fired was a standard model along with the magazine, then the number of rounds was about twelve. Given the situation, however, he couldn't afford to take a gamble in regards to the number of rounds in the person's clip remained. Thus, when the gun-shots ceased, he once again peeked outside of cover to at least locate his new target. Unlike before, he was at least given the privilege to see the person in question; though if he was to be honest he had paid more attention to the legs more than anything else. It was hard not to considering how she was showing them off in those damn shorts of hers. He wasn't given much more time than that to take note of her appearance or the model of her gun before slipping back into cover; rightfully so as another shot was fired. That made seven rounds fired, but the possibility remained that she already had one in the chamber.

Now that he was aware of where his target was, Sakurai adjusted his placement behind the beam he was using for cover, sunk down to his haunches, and poked the barrel of his gun out towards where the girl was approaching from and fired. The recoil did not work well thanks to the awkward angle he was holding it, but that discomfort was pushed aside as he swung the same arm away from the area he had shot from to the opposite side he was leaning over towards from the start. Pushing himself off the thick metal, he twisted his body in place to stick out from behind his cover, his gun raised, took quick aim, and fired a second shot whilst the girl was still in the process of adjusting the positioning of her gun.

He could only watch as her head jerked backwards from the force of his bullet hitting her dead on. His first response was to scream headshot, but that urge died when the girl's hand holding the gun continued to move towards him despite the bullet hitting its mark. The fact that the girl didn't drop the instant the shot hit her was clue enough for him that something was amiss here; thus the reason he went back behind cover before the girl's gun fired back at him. That made eight rounds, but did by all accounts that bullet should not have been fired; that girl should have dropped like a sack of potatoes. It didn't take long for him to understand precisely why the girl was still able to act; which only intensified his ire due to the circumstances.

"Well, fuck; here I thought I'd be the only Esper at this damn base." Grumbled the lad, his free hand combing through his hair as his expression became more grim. "Worse yet, it's a girl who's bullet-proof…at least I think."

Throwing caution to the wind, Sakurai used the support of the beam he was hiding behind to return to his feet before making a mad dash towards yet another nearby support beam in the sea of solar panels. Not even for a moment did his eyes leave the location of where the girl was approaching from; firing three shots of his own in an attempt to keep her from advancing. All this action did was provoke more gun-shots in retaliation and the increased pace the girl was moving as she moved after him; his bullets seemingly doing nothing more than causing her body to jerk but otherwise continue moving unhindered.

"Yup, she's bullet-proof alright."

Though, going by his assumptions, with a total of ten rounds now used so far that meant that she had only two shots left before she had to reload. While not entirely reassuring to be relying on mainly assumptions, he didn't have much else to go on at this point. That said, his hand once again removed the silver pocket-watch and firmly gripped at the chain causing it to dangle close to the ground.

Meanwhile, the girl who was in pursuit continued to rush towards the general location the suit-wearing teen had run off to. Her pistol was still raised even as she ran to catch up her target, one which had yet to move out from his cover since his latest retreat once she reached a certain distance. Of course his attempts at retaliating were futile given her Offense Armor, something that he most likely concluded since he didn't seem to be trying to openly enter a shoot out with her. That was a rather common mistake most people made when they encountered her; so the teen did earn a few points from her to have wised up and avoided trying to win against her in that field. Though, when she thought about it, she could only think of a few methods off the top of her head which the teen could use to gaining an advantage over her; and one of them was that damn laser that was on his person.

Still, he seemed rather reluctant to use it, so that meant either he didn't feel the need to use it on her, wasn't able to, or was just too chicken-shit to try and aim it at her without getting shot at in the process. The latter of which she could understand, so it would have been of no surprise to her if that was the actual reason he wasn't exploiting it.

Those thoughts were pushed aside as she continued her approach towards the location which the lad was located; having remained stationary and not breaking out of cover even once. That thought alone was enough to warrant warning bells to go off in her head; thus she mentally prepared herself for whatever she was to encounter once she reached him. But just when it seemed she was about to come up on him, Sakurai's form shot out from behind the base of the panel she was about to pass, swinging the particle accelerator like a sledge-hammer right into her legs. The loud clang of metal colliding with something equally dense rung out as the girl's body suddenly fell forward due to the suddenness of this violent action. As her form slid along the dry dirt and gravel, Sakurai couldn't help but gape at the sight, as if amazed that the action had worked. The words that followed, however, clarified that this wasn't actually the case at all.

"Clang!?" Judging by the pitch of his voice, it was easy enough to conclude that he was surprised more than anything else at the sound which he had just heard. "Did that really just go clang!? What the hell is this shit! I know there are a bunch of weird Espers out there but I didn't think I'd run into someone who's bones are made of fucking metal! What, did you just use something like Hak-"

"Please don't super confuse a work of fiction with reality; it's super unhealthy."

Despite obviously being struck by a blunt object of great density, Kinuhata didn't seem at all fazed by it at all if her tone was of any indication. Hell, aside from a bit of dirt on her clothes, there seemed to be no traces on her person that indicated she was struck in the first place. Even still, despite the fact that she sustained any injuries from the attack, one could tell that she was perturbed by the fact that he had managed to hit her at all. One moment he was hiding behind a pillar in front of her, and then the next minute he just popped out from a completely different location than before. How did he get from one place to another when she had kept her gaze locked on that specific location the entire time?

That question would need to what for the time being since her target was now right in front of her and had no means of escaping her line of sight like he had before. That being said, with her pistol still firmly in her small hands, she pushed herself off the ground and onto her haunches before pivoting around to face the direction the lad was located behind her. He finger just about to squeeze on the trigger; and with a single round she would put an end to this little chase the moment she caught sight of her target. At least, that's what she would have done had the teen been present by the time she had turned to face him. Yet he wasn't there, he was gone, vanished, and leaving no indication as to where he could have disappeared to.

"Let's try this again; point-blank this time."

Kinuhata's head jerked as the dry gunshot echoed throughout the decollate forest of solar-panels; the force of the bullet being enough to send her body forward as a result. Yet, even at such a range, the girl's head still didn't explode into a giant mess of brain-bits and bone. Seeing it up close solidified the fact in Sakurai's mind that his pistol was practically useless at this point; though that deduction should have been obvious the moment the first shot had no effect. Still, trial and error had its uses at time, though in this case it only served as a waste of both his time and bullets. Thankfully, he did have something else at his disposal that could be used for the sake of dealing with someone immune to his bullets. In his mind, it didn't matter if the girl was bulletproof or not, because he sincerely doubted that she was laser proof; especially if it was at close range.

Because of the odd manner in which he was holding the weapon underneath his arm, reaching for the trigger was a difficult task to do with a limited amount of time at his disposal. He could still reach it, mind you, but it brought a whole new meaning to hip-fire considering the fact that aiming was next to impossible this way. Given the range, though, that particular problem was eradicated since the muzzle of the weapon was practically up against the girl's back. But before he could actually pull the trigger, The girl's form jolted back to life and wrapped her arm around the base of the heavy gun, whilst shifting her bodyweight to turn and face the lad with her gun poised at his head. Instinctively done out of surprise, Sakurai's body jerked upward as his finger accidently squeezed down on the trigger to the weapon he was holding.

The familiar ringing of gunfire once again tore through the silence that made up the large field of panels. Though the shot had missed its intended target blood could still be seen staining the white shirt underneath his suit from his left shoulder. The bullet didn't pierce through the skin, instead just passing over the skin but still enough to inflict a wound on the suit-clad teen. At the same time, Sakurai's accidental activation of the weapon caused yet another familiar phenomenon to occur in the form of a blinding orange light bursting out from the muzzle of the weapon. Because of his erratic movements, the barrel of the weapon itself had veered upwards and towards the pillar of metal which held up one of the many panels around them.

Said orange light cut through the metal like butter, and in the time it took for Sakurai to remove his finger from the trigger the damage had already been done. For a loud creaking noise soon after replaced all noise that may have erupted from either party and easily dwarfing all previous sounds made within this forest of metal and dry dirt. Despite the pain, and despite being his enemy, both parties turned their attention towards the cause of the disturbance and watched with mixed reactions as the massive solar panel began to tilt dangerously towards them.

"Good job breaking it, you super otaku."

"See, this is why I hate 3-D; nothing ever goes the way I want it to."

* * *

Typically when someone performs an action or makes a statement that is so absurd or groundless the initial reaction is that of doubt. Usually those feelings are voiced in the form of laughter or a disregarding statement. Again, this was a typical reaction when faced with something that was not fathomable or not viewed as a serious matter. But what happens when that statement bears some truth within it? What is the first reaction that is made when all doubts are vanquished once the statement or action is proven to be true? Surprise, awe, amazement; which of these things were typically the first to surface? Sometimes it was easier to determine in certain instances than it would be in others; but for the most part it depended largely on how ridiculous or baseless the actions or claims were.

In a particular case with Mugino, her initial response to her hidden opponent's statement was to laugh. How could one blame her given the poor performance that was displayed so far in this conflict?

"But I don't like the idea of someone watching me all the time, you know?" That particular statement did its job in silencing any amusement that could have surfaced before it made its appearance."So, let's go ahead and ditch the spectator over there."

Having had enough of the empty claims the lad was making, Mugino raised her hand to renew her assault whilst three sphere's of light danced around her exposed palm. But before the bombardment could commence, something pierced through the silence between all those present in the corridor. At first it sounded like a low humming noise of a phone set to vibrate, but as the milliseconds passed, that same low hum began to rise in volume until it was so loud that both Mugino and Takitsubo had to cover their ears in a vain attempt to muffle the sound. The intensity of that sound must have been extreme, as both girls were felt their balance slipping due to dizziness. It soon became clear, however, that their wooziness wasn't due of the shrill noise being produced; rather it was because the floor itself was shaking beneath their feet very feet. Soon after this became apparent, deep cracks began to produce at random within the floor of the corridor, some of which were extending out towards Rikou herself.

Throughout all of this, Takitsubo could do nothing but watch as the fissures traveling along the slick surface of the marble floor as if it was made of glass. From her position, she could barely take note that certain areas in the floor had already crumbled and crashed into the area directly below them. In less than a minute after this odd occurrence began, several more sections of the floor Mugino was standing on had collapsed down to the ground below, leaving two-quarters of the floor remaining; and even that was subject to change within the next minute. Having few options at this point, one of her sphere's faded into existence and produced enough energy to blast a large hole in the wall beside her; which she was quick to jump through to avoid taking a heavy drop from one floor to the next.

But even inside this room, she could still hear the deafening noise as clear as she could in the hallway. Shortly after her escape, however, the noise ceased and replaced with the loud crashing of the massive chunks of concrete, pipes, and whatever else was beneath the floor collapsing to the floor below. She didn't bother to peer out of the massive hole in the wall to see the end result; mainly because she knew that it would most likely be covered by dust at this point. While still suffering from the nausea caused by Kurou's actions, she was vaguely aware that her surroundings had changed significantly compared to her previous location. Rows upon rows of cubicles were laid out before her, with their height being almost taller than she was at her full height. Cramped as it may have seemed, Mugino seemed content as she braced herself against the nearest wall for the sake of regaining some of her composure.

Just as her nausea was steadily beginning to dim, a loud clap and that same humming noise could be heard on the far end of the room she was currently in. The next instant, she was privileged with the sight of several desks, office-supplies, and various other materials being flung into the air by some invisiable force that she could not see. Whatever it was, the sight alone was enough to prompt her to raise her barrier up as the path which the force was coming from grew clearer. Half a minute later, the wall she had currently been leaning against was sent straight at her, along with the other objects from the room as well. Thankfully everything that came into contact with her barrier was reduced to nothing; even the invisible force that caused it all had failed to bypass her defense. Once it became clear that the threat had passed, lightly shaded sphere's of brown scanned the area for any signs of her target. Clearly whatever the cause had been, it left a trail of destruction in its path towards her; leaving the right half of the room look like the aftermath of a hurricane.

Unsurprisingly, the individual behind all of it was nowhere in sight.

"Hiding again?" Called out Mugino, knowing full well that the individual she was speaking to could hear her. "Nothing has changed, you're still a coward who's hiding from me."

"Who's hiding?"

She knew, she honest to god knew, that the owner of that voice wasn't doing the same thing he had been doing since the beginning. Call it instinct, call it women's intuition, call it a gut feeling, call it whatever you want; but fact was she knew there was a difference this time around. Hence why, the moment her eyes caught the gleam of something to her left, she hastily backpedaled towards the hole she had created to gain some distance while twisting her body to fully face her target. Had that action not occurred when it did, she may very well have lost her life; as a few strands of her hair could be seen floating in the air as a result of a missed swing from the knife that was currently in Kurou's hand.

In spite of the lack of success with his previous attack, Kurou's assault did not cease with that action. Within seconds, he reversed his grip on the handle of his weapon of choice and performed a second swipe at the girl as she continued to try and gain some distance between the two of them. The second sweep, aimed directly at her neck, was only barely missing its mark, thus he persisted with a third swing which was aimed at her midsection. While the result of that strike did not yield any blood, it did cut cleanly through the thin fabric which stood between him and actual flesh. By this point, however, Mugino was done acting on the defense and chose instead to counter-attack. With that being said, a single sphere of green light surfaced in front of her open palm which was by her waist and quickly fired at an upward angle towards Kurou's chin. The attack was promptly avoided, but it presented her with enough leeway to continue on her own offensive.

With the opening that was created, Mugino swiftly shot her leg up to drive the tip of her boot deep into the lad's abdomen, which was caught by Kurou's free hand. He was forced to release it shortly action stopping it as yet another sphere of surfaced to the left of his own head, forcing him into a mid-crouch to avoid being struck. But in doing this, he exposed a gap in his own guard as Mugino's first went flying towards his left temple; her knuckles landing a clean hit on the area intended and thus causing Kurou to stumble back.

Once it was clear that the attack was a success, she unclenched the same hand she had swung with, twisted her wrist to face the lad in question and fire yet another stream of energy towards the staggered lad's chest area. But, as before, Kurou was able to avoid being directly struck by the attack she made by twisting his body just in the right manner to avoid being hit directly by the blast. Though he did not leave the exchange unscathed, as the heat generated from her attack had easily burned through the fabric of his shirt, exposing the now angry red skin colored skin along his pectoral muscles.

Even that, however, didn't seem to provoke any emotions such as hesitation or fear from surfacing on his face. Thanks to the angle in which he had turned, the hand holding the knife was already facing Mugino's position. Thus, long before the trail of energy had dissipated, he had used that same hand twirl his knife back to the standard gripping method before tossing it right at her exposed leg. Started as she was, Mugino was still able to avoid being struck; largely unaware that the blade of the weapon was now completely lodged into the concrete wall behind her. With that action, Kurou once again went back onto the offensive; though doing so in a different form than before. By that, a familiar and deafening hum reverberated throughout the room as Kurou raised his leg waist high before slamming his foot back onto the surface of the floor they were standing on.

For a moment, the room shook wildly in a similar manner as it had in the hallway not moments ago. The only key difference here was that, unlike before, the ground didn't give out from underneath her. Instead, she was met with a tremendous invisible force that repelled nearly everything around the point of impact. Given the distance between the two, it was safe to assume that she wasn't an exception to this at all; thus she too was driven backwards with enough force to effectively slam her against the wall. Because of this unexpected turn of events, all air that had been present in her lungs was forcefully evicted from inside her body as pain surged through her entire being. However, even under such conditions, Mugino was still capable enough to push herself away from the wall in time to parry the right straight that would have otherwise struck her dead in the nose.

But because of that close proximity, she had been able to clearly hear that same hum from just now originating from Kurou's fists. Yet, it was upon witnessing the results of his failed attack that truly gave her a new understanding as to what this boy's ability was. From the point of impact where his fist had landed and still pressed against, the surface itself looked as though someone had taken a jackhammer to it; with small chucks or solid rock slipping down to the floor while powdered rock practically covered his fist from view. Before any further observations could be made, however, Kurou pushed himself off the wall with his fist, rotated his body counter-clockwise in an attempt to slam the back of his hand into her face. Having regained her senses quickly due to the adrenaline pumping through her veins, she lowered his posture down to avoid the attack just as it was about to come crashing into her. Yet, even after missing the target, he persisted in his assault; using the same momentum gained in his last attack to rotate himself partially and lash out another punch towards the girl's head.

Thankfully, Mugino had gained enough sense to pull herself away after nearly being struck the first time; thus allowing her to avoid the follow-up attack he had made. After avoiding his attack, all four of her sphere's surfaced around her person as she moved herself away from the wall to maintain some distance; simultaneously firing at the teen opposing her soon after they appeared. Already aware of what was to occur, Kurou's legs were already producing that familiar hum as he hopped up and slammed both feet into the wall he was now facing directly. The resulting shockwave that occurred as a result of this was lesser than what was previously displayed, but still strong enough to propel him away from that particular spot and towards a safer location.

Namely, the opposite side of the room which had largely remained untouched the entire time; leaving behind the crumbling remains of the wall in his wake. But because he was propelled with his back facing the direction he was going, he had no real means of controlling his landing. For this reason, the noise presented itself once more as his back came into contact with a cubical wall; effectively knocking both it and everything that was behind it down to the floor.

He was just thankful that the desk was on the opposite side of where he landed, otherwise the end result would not have been as pleasant.

"Now I get it." Proclaimed Mugino, her tone appearing mildly amused as she observed Kurou's less than graceful landing; propping her hand on her hip as she toyed with a few locks of her hair. "I didn't think I'd see the day where I met one, but I guess this world is full of surprises."

Wincing out of pain from both the minor burns on his chest and his harsh landing, couldn't bother to bring himself to responding to the girl's claims. He didn't need to really, considering there was no point in denying anything she was to openly say at this point. She knew what his ability was, having been deducing it since he had corrected her earlier. Now that she actually witnessed it firsthand, there was nothing he could say that would prove her theory wrong. Though, it honestly didn't matter all that much to him; considering the fact that she was bound to identify it sooner or later; it was just a matter of time and that was something he evidently ran out of.

"You're an Oscillater; an Esper who can manipulate, control, and project vibrations through just about any medium they desire. Those shockwaves, the phenomena in the hallway, even the projection of your voice; all of that was a result of using vibrations and the manipulation of sound waves." Not once in this little explanation did Kurou speak, which further proved to her that her assessment was correct; erecting a less than pleasant grin to begin surfacing on her otherwise gorgeous visage. "And what a treat you turned out to be; you actually seem like a relatively strong one as well. Given that the number of people with that ability is relatively scarce, I could be wrong in assuming that you're the strongest Oscillation user out there. Nevertheless, I can't say I was expecting to ever come across someone with the ability, let alone fight against it myself."

"You know, If you're expecting a standing ovation for reaching that conclusion; you aren't gonna get it from me." Spat out Kurou, his dry monotone voice betrayed his actual feelings of irritation as he rose back to his feet. Upon returning to a standing position, he perched his hand on his hip as if mimicking the girl's pose as a sigh escaped his lips. "Mah, it doesn't matter to me really, so long as I fulfill my role here then I don't much care what you do or don't know about my ability."

For a moment, Mugino could only stare back at the boy opposite her with a mixture of confusion and disbelief. While the pose wasn't what caused these emotions to surface, the fact that his tone had changed so drastically was what truly caught her attention. It wasn't that it was filled with emotions that were repressed, though emotions were evident in the tone used to address her. What had created those two emotions, which soon escalated into clear annoyance, was that his voice did not sound masculine anymore; rather it sounded feminine and very familiar to her. How could it not be familiar to her, seeing as how she wasn't ignorant in how she sounded when she spoke to others.

"My, my, you look surprised." Apparently, from the brief twitching at the corners of his lips, Kurou was enjoying the moment as he persisted in mimicking Mugino's voice flawlessly. "You know, going by what you sad just now, it should have been obvious that this trick is so elementary it's laughable. Or does hearing your own voice annoy you just as much as it does everyone else?"

"You're dead." Clearly Mugino was not amused in the slightest by this act of mockery from the boy across from her, rage evident on her features as she bore holes into the boy's cranium. "You're going to look like a piece of modern art by the time I'm fucking done with you."

"You know, that would be an interesting sight." Retorted the lad, further imitating the girl's actions by using his other hand to twist a few locks of his short hair with his finger. "But I get the feeling you suck at art, so I won't get my hopes up about it being a masterpiece."

While it could hardly be considered the final straw, Kurou's last statement did serve as the final words that were to be spoken at this point. The time for talk had ended, which was apparent by the sight of four familiar green sphere's phasing into existence around Mugino's frame as she leveled him with a glare so intense and a scowl so deep he was tempted to think he was facing a rapid dog rather than a young woman. Of course, he was already aware of the consequences behind his actions; he had been aware and prepared for any repercussions that were to follow engaging this particular girl. Ultimately, this was his choice, it was his job now, and until the twins were finished uploading the data he was stuck with the task.

There was no backing out partway through; it was either all or nothing and that had been his choice to make.

He just had to do his damn best to survive; a task that was much easier said than done.

* * *

In the heat of the moment, one can find it difficult to take into account their surroundings for the sake of their objective set in their minds. With such intense focus driving them, nothing outside of that particular goal mattered unless it directly effected them; in which case can sometimes result in death due to such intense focus making them careless. Such was the case with Frenda and Chouka respectively, as both were so driven to continue the engagement that neither one was truly aware of the happenings going on around them. Hence why, just as the two young women were about to resume their conflict, a powerful tremor shook the entire foundation in which they were standing on. Neither party was expecting it, nor was either party properly prepared to maintain themselves as the quake shook the entire structure. Hence why, both the blonde and the red-head fumbled on their feet and promptly passed one another before the respective attacks could be sent out.

Two thuds soon followed, along with each of them muttering their respective curses as they tried to readjust themselves whilst the floor below them continued to quiver beneath them. Though, among the two ladies, Chouka was the one who knew precisely what had caused the disturbance. Oddly, despite the tremors, the girl's expression looked positively joyful as she clasped her hands together whilst a brilliant smile flashed onto her features, her eyes nearly glazed over as she stared out into space.

"Hnnnng, Kurou-kun's really cutting loose this time~" If the expression alone wasn't enough, her swooning made it clear that she was indeed pretty happy about this sudden turn of events. "It's been a while since he's put _this_ much effort into a job!"

"Basically, do you get off on this sort of thing?!" Maintaining one's balance was a rather difficult task to do when the floor itself was shaking beneath you; hence the reason why Frenda remained prone as she screamed over the racket that was being made due to the sudden quake that was shaking the entire floor.

"Khehehe, not really; it's just hard to get him motivated! But it's always amazing thing to experience when he really takes something seriously!"

"I basically don't care about the object of your fantasies!"

"At least I'm not in denial about the person I like! You two were so close to kissing th-"

"For the last time, _that's not what was happening!_"

"See, there's that denial again~"

"BASICALLY, I FUCKING HATE YOU!"

After several long moments, the rumbling disturbance began to steadily die away until eventually it ceased entirely. With the tremors finally gone, both parties took their respective precautions to ensure that it was safe to stand. Between the two of them, though, Frenda was the faster of the two to renew her assault; her desire to kill the red-head acting as the driving motivation behind her hasty recovery from the slip-up. Chouka, who was still in the process of turning to face her, was completely blindsided as the tip of the blonde's pumps slammed into her jaw just as she was turning. Said attack did succeed in knocking her back to the floor on her back, but not enough to stop her from rolling to the side to avoid the double-stomp that would have possible crushed her face in had she not moved.

Her roll didn't even complete its turn the entire way before she made her counter; adjusting her body accordingly with the roll to send her leg sweeping across the ground to tip up the girl while using the other to drive the sole of her shoe into whatever she could connect with. Unfortunately for her, Frenda was more acrobatic than Chouka gave her credit for; as her attempted leg-sweep and the kick were avoided due to the blonde back-flipping over the attack itself. Upon landing a foot away from the red-head's now over-extended legs, Frenda used the brief moment of opportunity to quickly elevate her leg high before dropping her heel down towards the downed girl's exposed ribcage. Chouka, aware of the girl's trajectory, simply redirected the attack by swinging the back of her hand harshly along the side of the girl's shoe, knocking it off course and causing her heel to slam into the floor next to her.

Using the same momentum used to redirect the attack made, Chouka twisted her body in a similar manner as roll, only instead she moved towards the girl's extended leg whilst bringing one of her own up as she moved to slam her tibia into the blonde's knee-cap. Said attack was promptly avoided thanks purely to the shifting of her extended foot after the intended strike had failed. Using the now leveled foot as a means to pivot her body to avoid the kick in question, she used that same momentum completely spin her body around to slam the sole of her shoe right at the girl's face. Having no true alternative to counter the blow, Chouka simply reared cocked her head back and met the attack, literally, head on. Thankfully, in performing this action, the rim of her had had been forcefully removed once the girl's shoe came into contact with it, thus tilting it enough to keep the material of Frenda's pumps from connecting with actual flesh and bone of Chouka's forehead.

Reckless as it was, it still proved to be effective enough to not cause overly extensive harm to her. Worst case scenario, she would be suffering from a major headache later in the day.

But I digress.

With Frenda's attack nullified and no true means of further attack at her disposal, Chouka took this opportunity attempt to finally get herself off the ground and back on her feet. Before she could do this, she needed to gain some breathing room, and to get that she needed to get Frenda away from her. That being said, the red-head pinned the girl's leg between her arm and navel area whilst also using her free hand to grip the girl's ankle. With both area's secured, she rolled clockwise on the ground; effectively dragging Frenda alone with her as she did so. The end result was an effective take-down method, nearly slamming the blonde face first into the concrete had she not shot her arms out to catch herself before she hit the ground. With her opponent temporarily grounded, Chouka released her hold on the girl and spring-boarded herself back to her feet at about the same time Frenda herself had managed to stand as well.

Neither party wasted a second in their respected actions as the two, in near perfect unison, twisted their bodies in a clockwise and counter-clockwise manner to build up momentum for their next move. As Frenda completed her turn to perform her full roundhouse kick, Chouka had already attained the knowledge of this and thus stopped the attack by planting the sole of her shoe right in the path of the girl's kick. With Frenda's attack nullified, the track runner quickly drew her own leg back and delivered two kicks in quick succession into the girl's exposed ribs. The first of the two connected, which caused burning pain to surge through the blonde's entire being since it had been that same side which was struck earlier. The second, however, she was able to block using her arms; seeming taking advantage of her shorter stature. Before the girl's leg could retract, however, the blonde took a firm hold of the girl's leg with both hands.

With the girl's leg now captured, she fiercely tugged on the extended limb while twisting herself to face the wall she was closest to. With only one leg on the ground and the other being pulled, the red-head was forced to off her balance and thus moved in the same motion the girl pulling her along was moving. This ended when her shoulder made contact with the wall, forcing the rotation to stop on her end. It did not, however, stop Frenda's as she continued to turn counter-clockwise whilst her leg poised in a manner to drive her heel into the girl's side. In response, Chouka raised her hand to catch the attack as she had time again throughout this conflict. By the time she realized something was amiss, however, it was already too late to stop her movements.

It wasn't so much the noise that was made opposed to the sound that occurred after that really caught the red-head's attention. To her, it sounded like some thick liquid had been splattered onto the ground unexpectedly. Hearing this noise instinctively made her turn her attention to the source of it and what she saw wasn't something that should have surprised her. Crimson liquid that had no business dripping down her hand to join the puddle steadily forming by her feet was what her eyes beheld. She could see what had caused this, as the pointed tip of the stiletto protruding from the back of her hand was distinct even if it was smothered in her own blood. Said blade was only jutting out by a few inches, but it had been sharp and wide enough to piece through all the tissue and bone in its way.

Frenda on her part seemed to be indulging on her little victory; her expression turning quite smug as she harshly jerked her foot to remove the blade from the girl's hand; practically leaving a gaping two inch sized hole in the center of the girl's palm and back of her hand. Hazel gray spheres could only stare blankly down at the bleeding, twitching, limb as if bewildered beyond comprehension in regards to what had just transpired. But Frenda wasn't about to let the girl to soak in what she had done; fully intent on doing as much as she could in this moment of opportunity. That being said, upon the stationing her foot back to the floor, she re-positioned herself appropriately to grab girl's head and slammed it harshly against the wall beside her. She was satisfied with the sight of blood now oozing from the side of the girl's head where she connected with the wall; her expression still smug as she watched the girl slump down to the floor.

Despite the pain she was undoubtedly in, Frenda truly felt satisfied with the end result. This time she was sure the girl was out cold, if not dead due to the head-trauma she had inflicted on her just now. Still, taking chances wasn't really something that even she could overlook a second time. Thus the reason why she moved to retrieve her pistol that Chouka had knocked out of her hand in the beginning of their squabble. If nothing else, doing this would ensure that the girl was dead and not get her clothes covered in blood in the process. Plus, she didn't want a repeat of the last time she had gotten close when she thought the girl was knocked out; at least this way she could perform any more surprises in the unlikely event she was still conscious.

She hadn't even caught sight of her weapon when something took a whole fist-full of her hair and pulled. Startled, confused, and blindsided by the pain from this action; Frenda's body had no say in resisting whatever was pulling her back. This resulted in her form falling backwards due to the strength that was applied in pulling her back. By the time she was mid-fall, her blue eyes darted out in every direction to find out the cause of this. Her answer was a given when her gaze crossed paths with the now bloodshot hazel gray spheres of a girl who, in every way, should not be moving at this point. Yet there she was, standing to the side of Frenda's descending form with her arm poised back far with the same hand she had stabbed while a fist-full of her blonde locks mangled between her clenched fingers.

It was almost scary how fast her fist traveled through the air after that. For one moment she was just falling and the next Frenda was on the ground a foot away with blood pooling out of her mouth. She didn't need to be a medical expert to know that her jaw was broken; hell she was lucky the force of her attack didn't shatter it entirely. Still, her jaw was broken, a few of her back teeth were cracked or knocked out, and the side of her lip had been burst; which also contributed to the pool of blood accumulating on the floor. And despite how hard she tried, she could not focus on anything to save her life; her world was doing somersaults as she tried to pick herself up off the ground only to collapse back onto the floor time and again.

"Sorry Blondie, but I'm probably the last person in ORDER you want to go up against in pure fisticuffs." Stated the girl casually as speaking about the weather, like she wasn't even injured as she moved to retrieve her fallen hat. "My ability isn't as fancy or as high as Kurou-kun's or Sakurai's, but it suits me considering I'm an up-close and personal kinda girl. I call it Ante-Up, though the official name for it is too boring and how it works is real complicated for me to explain; so I'll simplify it for you a bit."

Upon her hat's retrieval and being returned to its proper place, the girl shifted her attention back to the blonde still trying, and failing, to pick herself back up off the ground. She took this time remove the knot used to secure her sweatshirt around her waist, allowed it to fall to the floor, before stepping down on it and effortlessly ripped the sleeve of the tarnished garment off.

"In layman's terms: I'm a Level 3 Esper with the ability to control the adrenal glands in my body, specifically the medulla which produces adrenaline. I'm sure you've heard stories about all the unnatural things a person can do with enough adrenaline pumping through them. Well, I can choose when and how much adrenaline is pumped through me at any point in time I want. What that means is that I can make myself stronger, faster, sharper, and immune to pain at any time in the time it takes for your heart to beat. "

By the time Chouka had finished her explaination, Frenda was barely managing to stand on her own two feet; her hand feebly reaching out to grasp anything that could help maintain her balance as her legs wobbled from the place in which she stood. She could barely see, but with what little she could make out it was clear to her that Chouka was no longer a bundle of energy she was a moment ago. From what she could make out, the red-head wasn't lying in regarding to her immunity to pain, as she seemed completely unfazed by anything that was done to her. Blood could still be seen trickling down the side of her neck and soaking her clothes, her hand was still a twitching, bloody, mess, and yet the girl's hazel gray eyes remained calm and her expression showing no signs of registering anything that had transpired. Though it seemed she had enough awareness to properly treat the latter by using a makeshift tourniquet to stop the bleeding.

"Noboro, don't listen in on our thoughts for the time being." Maybe it was the adrenaline she was talking about earlier or the trauma from the head injury, because Chouka suddenly began talking to no-one in particular despite looking dead at her. "I don't want you to hear what's about to happen on my end."

As stated once before, Frenda had a bad habit of making unprofessional mistakes during the course of a job. Some were more critical than others, but the fact was it was still a mistake that could have possibly been avoided. But in this instance, during this job, Frenda's mistake was not something which she had complete control over. Upon reflection of the actions leading up to this point, she should have just shot the bitch when she had the opportunity to do so; an opportunity which would not emerge again it seemed. She wasn't dealing with you common-place person anymore, as referring to Chouka as a person was too flattering at this point.

Frenda was now stuck in a cage with a beast; and the said beast was now dead set on tearing her apart.

* * *

And now we've reached the bottom; time for some explanations.

I'm gonna be honest, next time I do a Mugino fight I'm hoping its against another ranged user. You guys have no idea how hard it is to do an action sequence with her when she's pitted up against someone who focuses in close range. It sucks, its hard, and it's repetative as all hell when it comes to her. So, that being said, if that scene isn't as good as it could have been; then I have a lot of improving to do. For Sakurai and Kinuhata's little scuffle, well, that's gonna develop next chapter since I had yet to really get a setting for their battle in the first place. Though I'm not sure how that fight will play out, I can at least promise a few laughs with Sakurai's comments if nothing else.

As for the Frenda vs. Chouka fight...well, this is most likely the most anticipated one (excluding Touma's when he get's there of course) so I hope I did well with this one. It's not easy to do a long-winded fight sequence with just kicks and such, plus the fact that I wanted to get at least her's and Kurou's abilities out there may have messed up the flow a bit...feedback on this portion would be nice so I'm willing to take the scorn if it's not to everyone's liking. If it is, I've done my job, if not then I'll be in the corner drawing circles in the dirt.

As usual, if there are any inquiries, thoughts, or concerns that arise in your mind, feel free to address them to me and I'll do what I can to answer them. Otherwise, I hope you enjoyed my little piece of work.

Goodbye for now.


	14. When Monster's Dance: Part 3

Greetings to all!

I would first like to say that I thank all of those who went and participated in the poll on my profile. Though few in number, it's still nice to know people actually took a peek and submitted their vote. So cookies for you folk out there. My second statement is that I apologize for not updating this sooner; mainly because I kinda took a break for a bit to keep my head clear and not get writers block on this. Hope I didn't keep you guys waiting for too long. That being said, I hope you enjoy this chapter of A Certain World of Darkness!

* * *

In retrospect, pissing off a Level 5 Esper probably would have been classified as a bad idea at best, suicide at worst. In some circles, a Level 5 was not fully viewed as human beings anymore. Instead they were viewed as monsters, chaos incarnate that could and, in most instances, would tear through just about any resistance they encountered. It wasn't too far from the truth honestly, which could explain why there were so few of them in the first place in Academy City. They were the unmovable giants who's presence alone could swiftly instill fear and doubt into any opposing force that provoked them. That just went to show that if a Level 5 was ever forced to move, then there was little to nothing that was capable of stopping them.

That was a common belief that the majority of the populous within Academy City believed; regardless of if they were a ranked Esper or not.

Kurou himself was no exception to this belief himself either; though one would fine that hard to believe given his actions. He was still very much aware of the dangers which were present in this conflict and, by default, knew his own limitations as well. He may have been a Level 4 with a rather rare and high diverse ability, but he was not ignorant of the gap in power between his own abilities and Mugino's. There were only seven Level 5 Espers in this city after-all; so there was far more to being among the strongest than having a unique skill. Kurou didn't honestly know what it took to reach that pinnacle of power, didn't know how far the gap was between himself and the person against him, but he knew enough to know that he wasn't quite there and wouldn't ever reach that point either.

The data in which he had, the very same data that was being uploaded to the mass communications relay, made it very clear where he stood in the grand scheme of things in this city.

But those were thoughts for a different time; mainly because they were irrelevant at this stage of the operation. He had a job to do, and that job required his complete undivided attention for the time being.

Mugino, who had been less than pleased with the blatant display of mockery in regards to her person, didn't waste a breath in continuing her assault. Four streams of pure unstoppable energy burst from the sphere's around her and towards the target whom had already moved to avoid them. Undeterred by the assault, Kurou was swift in his retaliation as, upon avoiding the attack, both his hands slapped together while jutting out in front of himself and towards the girl in question. Having already been subjected to this particular attack, Mugino had already produced her barrier to avoid both the force of the soundwaves and of the objects being carried with it as it approached. She wasn't surprised to note that the wall behind her was barely holding itself together thanks to the sudden shock it was forced to endure; as the top surface that was already crumbling away lost more of its density.

By the time she had dropped her defense, Kurou had already closed a good portion of the gap between them in his rapid advancement. That didn't last long, however, as the girl lashed her hand out in a sweeping motion in front of her, leaving a single crescent streak of pure energy flying towards him. In response, Kurou once more displayed his level of skill with his ability as yet another, though less widespread, shockwave was exerted just as the sole of his shoe touched the ground. The forward momentum combined with the amount of force provided allowed him the means to be airborne long enough to avoid the attack sent yet short enough to bring him back down to the ground without creating a large opening to be exploited. At the very moment that opposite foot touched down, yet another tremor rocked the foundations that supported the floor in which the two were standing on.

In this action, whatever attack that was intended to be launched was canceled at the loss of both her concentration and her aim. It just proved that, even with her power to destroy anything, the caution that was required to utilize it was a weakness. If the floor was shaking, then aiming was out of the question less she missed her target entirely and gave him an opportunity to exploit an opening. If aiming hadn't been a problem, than the shaking would have since it very difficult to concentrate on firing at a target and maintain one's balance at the same time. Skilled as she was, being negligent on how she used her ability was not something she could afford to risk. The last thing she needed was to accidentally blow her own arm off due to the unstable nature of her ability; and that was the best case scenario and luck was on her side.

Luck seemed to be smiling on her now though, for just as suddenly as the tremor had occurred it had passed; leaving her to behold the lad almost completely removing the gap that previously existed between the two of them. Having already witnessed the manner in which Kurou's utilized his Oscillation ability, allowing him to be in close proximity would not end well for her. That went without saying with any ability that could be exploited at close range really; considering she primarily focused in long range rather than short. Her last experience with a certain spiky haired coward only further influenced her to make a split second decision; and that was to let go of her pride and use one of her trump-cards hidden in up her sleeve.

Technically speaking, it was tucked safely away in the back pocket of her shorts and with a simple slight-of-hand she removed the objects in question to reveal one of her, literal, trump-cards.

The action itself was swift, as upon removal of the object she flicked her wrist and effectively tossed the object into the air in the direction which Kurou was approaching from. And with a single sphere of energy appearing in the center of the same hand, she fired directly at the card as it completed its rotation with the face of it being positioned right in front of the approaching teen. By this point, however, Kurou had already moved as the feedback reached him, but even he was not aware of the devastation that would ensue because of it.

In the blink of an eye, the card that had been thrown was burned to pieces while a massive array of beams burst out in every direction; effectively piercing through anything and everything in its path. Nothing was spared from the devastation; the cubical walls melted away like butter along with everything that lay behind it, the wall and ceiling behind him married with sizzling holes that extended further beyond what he could see. Even the floor was not spared, as furious red outlines depicted the intensity of the heat produced by the attack that had just been launched. Kurou himself, though still successful in avoiding many of them, was still struck by a stray beam did connect with the skin along his left bicep. It didn't produce a hole through it mind you; rather the very edge along the shaft of light had skimmed passed the bicep leaving a small, if a less than pleasant looking, flesh wound in its wake.

Regardless of how extensive or severe the wound was, it still hurt enough to stall Kurou's movements to clutch the bleeding area struck. To him, moving it felt like someone put an icy-hot patch and pushed him into a pool of water. Case in point, it burned like hell and worsened each time he tried to move his arm.

It didn't require a mental connection for him to know that his relatively minor injury brought about a bit of satisfaction to his opponent. All he had to do was look at her face and see that the twisted smile once more adoring her features as she fanned herself with another card of similar design. That action did not remain consistent as she tossed the object out in front of her once again and repeated the same action as before. The results were completely the same as it had been before, as yet another hail of beams were produced as he moved to avoid them; an action that was far from easy given the vast number of beams being fired in nearly every direction. It wasn't so much the fact that number had increased per-sey, it was more like she had turned her single fire blasts into something akin to a shotgun with a wider spread. Case in point, it made dodging next to impossible unless you were either fast enough to avoid them or had the foresight to move before they came flying at you.

Nevertheless, even if he did possess the foresight, it was still a bitch to try and avoid; though Kurou as at least glad that he wasn't struck in the legs yet.

"Run, run, run, run, run, run; is that all you can fuckin' do!?" It seemed the little provocative stunt he had performed had a much deeper impact than he anticipated. Now she was openly mocking him as she persisted with her assault using those unique cards of hers; creating more damage to the surrounding area and making it increasingly difficult for him to get close to her and avoid being hit by her attacks. "In the end, talking is all that you're good at doing; but words don't mean a damn thing against me! Do you get that yet!? Can you see the difference between us now!?"

He couldn't stress it hard enough even if he tried; avoiding a direct hit was not as simple a task as he previously imagined. While it may be true that he had the awareness as to what her actions were to be, the effects of the array of energy being shot out at him at once was something that went beyond Mugino's control. He couldn't predict where any of the rays of green light were going because the girl in question didn't know herself. She knew where to position the card, but once she hit it all thoughts of aim went out the window. Thankfully he could propel himself to move further distances thanks to applying miniature shockwaves before the attack could come; it was probably the only reason he was still alive at this point honestly.

But his intention here wasn't to beat her; he would be overestimating himself if he sincerely believed he was capable of such a thing. All he needed to do was stall as long as possible and survive the exchange. Nothing more or less than that was necessary in order to achieve his goal here. Of course, he still had to make it convincing and actually put some effort into the task to keep her from realizing his true motives. And, again, in the unlikely event that he did kill the girl; then that would assure their mission's overall success. But, for the most part, his key objectives here were to focus on keeping the girl distracted and survive; that was all. Suffice to say he had her complete attention now, all that remained was to stay alive.

(Kurou, there's a problem.) At least, that was until Noboro personally spoke to him in his mind. Even if he couldn't see the boy's face, he could just tell that there was a sense of urgency present in those words. (The data has stopped uploading and the computer's not responding.)

(What happened?) Just as Kurou didn't need to see his expression, Noboro could feel that there was a lingering sense of pure anger being exerted through those words. Though, it could be argued that it would not be noticeable even if he had spoken them aloud.

(I don't know, it just stopped three-quarters of the way from completion.)

Kurou couldn't bite back the urge to swear as he propelled himself further away from the mass special of beams being fired in his direction; courtesy of Mugino and those cards of hers. He himself didn't realize it until that moment that, upon taking injury, he'd steadily been forced further and further away from his opponent who was slowly but surely trying to back him into a corner. It was working sadly enough too, since avoiding her attacks was growing increasingly more difficult as the seconds ticked by.

(There must be a few people still in the building interfering with the connection to the relay. Inform Chouka, pack up everything you need, and wait for her to get there.)

(Um…about that…) The abrupt pause that was present after that statement did nothing to comfort the lad. (Chou-chan's…unavailable at the moment.)

(Noboro…)

(She's dealing with some girl who stabbed her…you know how she get's.)

Sadly, Kurou did know and it was precisely the reason why his brow twitched ever slightly upon hearing that particular statement. His frustration reaching its limits, Kurou let out a less than pleased sigh of aggravation as his back finally collided with a solid surface of the far wall. Granted, he should have expected this occurrence to happen; it wasn't like he was ignorant of ITEM's reputation. Having the Meltdowner here pretty much confirmed all of ORDER's suspicions about how serious the Board of Directors were going to handle the situation. The original infiltration team was just cannon fodder, ITEM was their big trump-card here and he'd be lying if he said he didn't see it coming.

He wasn't specifically expecting ITEM to show up, as there were several organizations and groups that resided in the darkness of this city which could be used to eliminate them.

"Nowhere to run off to now, you polished piece of shit." Worse yet, he still had to listen to this girl's consistent yapping, having raised yet another of her silicone cards and with the full intention of using it. At this range, escape was nearly impossible for him even with the use of shockwaves to propel him. All he could do now was await the inevitable to occur, though expression remained completely neutral despite being stuck between a rock and a hard place. If possible, seeing this only caused the girl's wicked smile to spread further as she stared back at him; thrilled beyond words for reasons he wasn't sure he wanted to know. "Still keeping a straight face, huh? Well, whatever, it won't stay that way by the time I'm done with you."

Regardless if Kurou provided a response or not, Mugino still had her mind set on finishing this petty game of cat and mouse. Nothing he could have said would have changed her decision to finally end the teen in front of her who provoked her. While the temptation to blast him away without her silicone card did surface in the back of her mind, she repressed it in favor of not providing him any further means of defending himself. She at least had enough common sense to keep her thoughts rational to a degree during this situation. Kurou getting close would not due, regardless of how fulfilling it would be to snuff out his life with her bare hands.

"Checkmate."

With only a few seconds before the final move was made, Kurou took in as much air into his lungs as humanly possible whilst twisting the knob on the right side of the headphones he was wearing. In doing this, he was rewarded with complete silence as all sound was lost to him. He didn't need sound to know his ability was in effect though, as the vibrations occurring were so intense that it took everything he could muster not to react to it. That was the price he paid for this ability, it was his bane and his salvation; and it hurt most when he applied it in the manner in which he did. For the moment his lungs capacity had reached its limits, when it seemed that the organs were on the verge of bursting, he performed his final action.

The action which was taken wasn't complex, wasn't groundbreaking, or depth defying stunt.

All in which he had done in that moment was shriek.

Normally that wouldn't have done anything but annoy the girl opposing him, normally it would have just been a rising flat tone that was just loud enough to grate someone's nerves if done long enough. Kurou, however, wasn't normal in that sense. He was an Oscillator, a person who could create, control, and project vibrations in any manner in which he pleased. Sound carried vibrations, human's used vibrations to speak, and at a higher pitch, those sound waves are more penetrating than normal sounds. Yet in his hands, such a basic ability and knowledge which anyone could know and utilize themselves was particularly dangerous in the hands of someone such as him.

If Mugino had been asked what it felt like to be so close to such a noise, she wouldn't say it was like someone scraping nails on a chalkboard. That analogy just did not even compare to the intensity of what it was she was currently experiencing in that moment. If anything, it felt as though someone had driven two power drills into her skull and forced them to grind together in the center of her head. Such a noise was so deafening, so unbelievably strident that she was sure blood would be leaking from her ears. But the noise wasn't the major which caused her harm; though that was to be argued. Instead of simply producing a shrill noise to create a distraction, the full might of those shockwaves which she had been subjected to had finally hit her dead on due to the lack of space between the two of them.

That said, when she was struck, her body had almost completely left the ground as she was forced backwards; the accumulated force applied once again causing all air to leave her lungs as her boots skid along the floor almost two yards backwards from her original position. Throughout it all, her ears would not stop ringing due to the effect Kurou's latest stunt. But, in spite of this, the teen didn't persist in an attack. To be precise, when Mugino shot her gaze back towards the location in which the lad was, all that could be seen was the thick concrete wall that made up its surface.

(Noboro, you and Nibiki stay where you are; I'm on the way.)

And indeed he was, for the sound of the soles of his shoes clapping against the marble floor of the hallway made clear as he ran as fast as he could towards the nearest staircase to the upper levels. Oddly enough, despite his steady breathing as he ran, thin layer of sweat covered his body while his complexion was tainted red as if he had just been sun-burnt. What was even stranger still was that, occasionally, one would note the constant trembling of his hands and fingers.

* * *

At any other time, had the situation not been so dangerous, Sakurai would have viewed the situation in a different light than he did. For instance, if he was witnessing the event from a distance, he would have marveled at how a single disturbance in the large chain of structures could result in the most devastating effect he had ever witnessed. Reality didn't always seem as awe inducing as it was in fiction; as building or structures crumbling to pieces and destroying several blocks worth of buildings was common there. But in reality, that was a sight that was relatively rare to behold in person; much less be caught in the middle of. Yet here he was, in the center of it all, as he ran through the forest of metal as the sound of creaking metal and broken glass resonated around him.

Since the fall of the first panel, mainly thanks to the efforts of a certain thigh exposing bitch, things had become increasingly more difficult for him since the result of that little accident created a domino effect. When one panel fell, another two would be hit and thus hit move as they moved. The fact that the structures were massive in size and the close proximity between the two made it pretty clear that it wasn't going to stop until the entire field was wiped out. Had he not been trapped in the center of the entire mess, he would have welcomed such a thing as the resulting dust-clouds created would have sufficed as great cover for his movements. But that was not the case here, thus the reason why he was forced to scramble away from his pursuer using his ability in an effort to gain some distance. As unsafe as it was, using the crumbling structures was the best means to both avoid the girl and to progress forward as much as possible without fear of being shot at again.

If the girl knew better, she'd have reloaded after getting to a safe spot; otherwise she only had possibly one bullet left to use; two if one was still in the chamber.

But, despite the dangers of his own actions, the injury he had sustained, and the overall decline in this assignments progress rate, Sakurai was grinning. It wasn't one of satisfactory, nor was it malignant or sadistic; it was more along the lines of a kid who had just stumbled across an arcade with their favorite game inside. It could be argued that even he didn't realize his expression was like this, but that thought was thrown out the window when, over all the destruction occurring around him, one could faintly hear his chuckles as he ran. By all accounts, Sakurai could have been viewed as legitimately insane at this point with enough proof present for there to be some merit.

But the fact was that Sakurai was genuinely thrilled with the events currently taking place around him.

"I've got the strangest boner right now." Thankfully nobody was around to hear that particular statement, otherwise he would no doubt have been viewed in a less than satisfactory way; even if the statement wasn't actually true. "I take back what I said, 3-D aint so bad when 2-D shit happens."

Maybe lady fate was smiling on him today, or perhaps he was skilled enough at getting the hell out of dodge when shit got too real. Whatever the case may be mattered little to nothing in his eyes at this point. His pursuer was either dead or way behind him, he still had his new favorite gun, and despite all the chaos he was getting closer and closer to his objective with each step he took. Sakurai wasn't safe by any means, as the destruction that was following close behind him could still be heard, but he was fortunate enough to not be in immediate danger at the moment. Success was still within his reach, his objective could still be completed if he just continued as he was, and he could finally be done with this tedious task.

"You are super getting on my nerves!"

At least, that would have been the case had it not been for a certain person's sudden reappearance into the picture.

Normally, looking back would have probably been the cause of his own downfall, but such a thought never crossed his mind in that instant. If anything, it had been the key reason for his survival since, upon looking in the direction the voice had originated from, he was forced to leap to the side. His landing had been painful due to the flesh wound on his shoulder, but it was acceptable since as it was necessary to avoid being struck by the remains of a support beam being hurled at him. The resulting crash that followed near him only further proved that it was the right decision to make as dirt and rubble kicked up into the air as a result of the force which was applied.

Having avoided certain death yet again, Sakurai rolled onto his back whilst shifting the barrel of the heavy weapon towards the direction which the object had originated from. Yet nothing was there when he had turned, just clouds of dirt and falling glass due to the crumbling structures that made up his surroundings. When it registered that his resistance was not present in the location expected, Sakurai's eyes and head shifted in various directions; scanning for any signs of his attacker. Just when he thought it was safe enough to make a move to stand, a brief flash of orange came along the corner of his vision caught his attention. By the time he had turned his attention to fully face it, the individual herself was practically upon him with her fist cocked back and ready to be slammed down on his exposed head.

To Kinuhata's surprise, and further annoyance, when her fist was sent down to land the finishing blow all skin made contact with was dirt. Where a teen once laid was now vacant, leaving her in a semi-crouched position with her hand wrist deep in the dirt. What was more annoying than that, however, was as sudden as his disappearance had been, her target appeared with the shaft of the large weapon he was carrying be used as a club to bash the side of her head. The attack succeeded in knocking her to the ground, yet she still remained largely unharmed by the lad's efforts. Shortly after her body connected with the ground, Saiai twisted her landing to face appropriate location in which Sakurai was and quickly lunged towards him with the intent to tackle him to the ground.

Said action did not reach fruition since, to her ever growing ire, the well dressed teen was not positioned in the same spot. Rather, he was beside her once more with the weapon now swung at her naval; effectively catching her mid-leap in the stomach. All this seemed to do, however, was aggravate the girl more if the curse that escaped her lips was of any indication. In response to the attack, Saiai swiftly backhanded the lad in question; finding solace in the fact that it had connected and thus sent the teen flying backwards due to the amount of force applied. She didn't miss the sound of cracking bones either; though it soon became apparent that the teen's neck was no broken by the force as he hurriedly tried to stand. The process had been slow, as blood dribbled from his lips down to his chin as he leaned on the heavy weapon still secured on his person for support.

With her target now momentarily stunned, Kinuhata didn't waste a second in her approach; moving unhindered towards the teen in question at a quick pace. Just before she reached him, her vision became obscured as the thick metal of his weapon met head on with her face. The attack itself continued to deal no actual harm to her, but being flung right off her feed and crashing into the dirt repeatedly time and again grew very tiresome after the third time. Especially when the person who was doing it was seemingly disappeared from place time after time just to appear and persisted in keeping her on the ground. Having witnessed it several times now, Kinuhata originally suspected him to be a Teleporter, but relinquished that theory after successfully hitting him twice now. So what was it he was doing that made him vanish so suddenly? If he was really moving almost instantaneously, she would have at least seen a trail in the dirt which or at least noticed the it kicking up due to his sudden and rapid acceleration.

No; whatever he was doing didn't involve speed to supplement him. Something else was at work here, something was missing from the equation, and whatever that thing was would definitely provide the answer behind whatever was at work here.

"I gotta say girl, you're a piece of work in more ways than just one." From behind her, she could clearly hear the teen's comments and could almost picture him smirking down at her from where he stood. "Bullets, blunt force, hell I'm starting to think you'd live through one of those solar panels dropping on ya."

His voice, though calm, still bore noticeable amount of repressed pain within it as he spoke. He obviously was feeling both the injury on his shoulder and his cracked jaw. Her Offense Armor insured her own safety, so if there was any advantage to be gained it was that nothing he had done thus far had actually caused her harm. Sakurai, however, was still susceptible to injury, unlike her, so it honestly didn't matter if he could avoid her attacks; for he couldn't necessarily hurt her either. As things were now, both were capable of being nearly untouchable; the only thing that made that statement concrete was that the young man could be hit and hurt while she could be hit but remain unscathed.

"It's a cryin' shame that we couldn't have been partners; cause damn we'd be pretty much untouchable wouldn't ya say?"

"I super don't like the idea of working with an otaku who collects figma's."

"...too each his own I guess…"

In the time in which they had paused in the conflict, the devastation that was once behind them had finally caught up with them; the waning of support pillars rung out and shattered glass once more surrounded the two individuals. Neither party, however, took to notice these things for reasons which were their own. Despite the noticeable disadvantage which he had against the girl, Sakurai continued to remain where he was, twirling the chain to his pocket watch like a flail as he continued to used the heavy weapon next to him as his crutch. He had enough sense, however, to take a few steps back to maintain a suitable distance so she couldn't hit him. But, upon further thought, Saiai noticed a particular pattern with the well groomed teen's actions; specifically the distance he always maintained. Every time she went to attack, he was always at least six to seven feet away from her.

Why that much distance, why didn't he ever try to gain more and actually use that weapon? Was it out of energy, or did he simply not feel inclined to use it? She knew how far its range was, having witnessed it take down a military chopper during the drive to the facility. So why keep the distance if he wasn't going to use the gun? Another question that was raised was the purpose behind the pocket-watch he was flinging around? Sure, she had seen people use things like chains and the like as a means to alleviate stress, but that couldn't have been the only reason behind its appearance. This was an age of emails and cell-phones; this was Academy City where technology so advanced from what made up the rest of the world was at anyone's fingertips.

And just like that, something clicked and that almost instantly caused realization to flash across her face; which wasn't missed by Sakurai. But, oddly, he seemed calm about the sight; though his monotonous actions ceased as he straightened himself a bit to address the girl opposing him. Whatever mirth that was present in those eyes of his before were gone, only cold sphere's of honey-brown stared back at the girl across from him. There were no more games to be played here, no more bullshitting, no more comical remarks. Something was now hindering his progress, someone who needed to die, and someone he could not afford to take lightly once he saw realization flash into her eyes.

There was no warning, no vocal or physical command was given; they just moved and in that action two espers who could rightfully be deemed 'untouchables' moved to conclude this conflict.

* * *

Out of all the jobs she had undertaken and out of the various opponents she was forced to face against, Frenda hardly ever found herself wishing she could have developed an Esper ability. As a normal individual, someone without supernatural abilities, she often held a sense of pride in knowing that she was capable of handling herself just fine against targets that did possess such traits. For each one that was slain by her, that pride climbed to new heights as it affirmed her belief that even someone as normal as her was capable of performing what is usually deemed impossible. Given, she didn't always handle the esper alone and she didn't always come out of the conflict unscathed; but the important thing in her mind was that she survived.

Survival of the fittest as the saying went, and Frenda was definitely fit considering she survived as long as she had in the darkness of this city.

But this situation was a bit different than those other instances. ITEM's formation was in disarray, she had no weapons on her person, and her opponent turned out to be a different kind of esper than the ones she was used to seeing. When most people thought of espers, they thought of nifty abilities like reading people's minds, control fire, and things of that nature. All those abilities were external ones, things which effected the world around them; thus is was easy to forget the espers who worked on a different level. The internal abilities, like regeneration, increased bone-density, and many others that are oftentimes overlooked in favor of the more 'flashy' abilities that could be produced.

Frenda was no exception to this if she were to be honest with herself. Having fought against more of the external users than internal ones, it made her forget that people with abilities like the red-head's did in fact exist in this city. It was a mistake that she would need to amend in the future…if a future still existed for her after this was all over. With the threat of someone such as Chouka now present and having suffered enough physical injury to warrant action, Frenda took the first option that entered her mind. That option was actually fairly reasonable one in the face of an opponent that could not be beat given her current condition.

To put it simply: she made a hasty retreat towards the door leading to the staircase…or tried to anyway.

In the time it took for Frenda to build up her pace; Chouka had already moved to intercept her. The movement itself wasn't instant, it wasn't so fast it seemed like she phased in front of her or anything one would see in a work of fiction like manga or anything. No, Chouka ran at a pace that was far too fast to be normal, but all the same it was still within the realm of possibility for someone like a professional track runner. That being said, the blonde was indeed capable of seeing the red-head's advancement; but that came with its own set of problems. Yes she could see it, but that raised the question of if she was capable of avoiding the advancing girl?

That answer was made clear when Chouka's shoulder slammed into her side, knocking the girl to the ground as if Frenda weighed nothing at all. The girl in question wasn't even given a moment to register she had fallen over completely before the red-head's hand had took a firm hold of her hair and dragged her back towards her. Having been subjected to this and her vision still obscured from the previous attack, the smaller of the two girl's had few means of blocking or avoiding the offending party's fist slamming into her abdomen. The force in which was applied easily contended with the last attack which had broken her jaw; forcing all of the air in her lungs to be evicted and leaving the blond gasping for air from where she laid.

Chouka, however, was far from done; as she followed up this attack with a devastating backhand to the girl's chin as her body lurched upward from her previous action. The end result caused blood to spatter along the floor as the blonde's head jerked due to the sudden force she was struck with. With blood now pouring from her parted lips and searing pain throughout her body, it took everything in her being to keep herself from passing out; less she never wake up. That said, despite her blurred vision, Frenda's hand rose to the girl's face and drove her thumb into the girl's eye-socket. The action itself nearly succeeded had Chouka's hand not snatched at her wrist just as it came into range.

"Stop struggling, you're just making it worse for yourself." Nothing in her tone of voice or in her facial expression displayed negative emotions; though it was hard for the blonde to discern due to the hindered vision. But even if the girl's tone was fairly neutral, her expression told a different story had she been able to see it. "It's harder to make this painless when you act so defiant."

Without further ado and seemingly no significant effort on her part, Chouka applied the appropriate amount of pressure to cause a distinctive cracking noise to fill the area in which the two girls were fighting at. It went without saying that Frenda's cries of pain shortly followed her wrist being broken, leaving her to claw away at the offending hand which was still grasping the now flaccid limb. Now the blonde was growing desperate, having suffered more than her fair share of pain during the course of this conflict and her instinctual desire to survive truly came to the surface. Using her remaining functional hand, Frenda feebily searched around her for something, anything at all, which could be used as a means to attack the girl with. She found it in the form of a hand-sized chunk of concrete; which she proceeded to pick up and slam into the side of the girl's head.

This time, the action had some results which were beneficial to her. She had already come to terms with the fact that physical wounds would not be effective against her but that wasn't her objective. Of course, it wasn't like she had a plan in the first place, but was only acting in a manner that would at least provide some opportunity which she could exploit. That opportunity presented itself here, as the chunk of concrete had crumbled upon impact with the offending party's head, but the dirt that was kicked up from that action had been enough to enter the girl's eyes. This meant that not only was she struck, but her own sight was hindered which provided all the time necessary to escape from the girl's clutches.

The task of getting back to her feet had been a difficult one, having taken to scrambling towards the only escape-route and repeatedly falling back to the floor a few times in her haste. She was still in intense pain, everything was screaming at her to stop, but she could not. A retreat was the only real option for her at this point, or at least find someone who had a gun. Thankfully, though still in tremendous pain, her vision began to clear up a bit and her balance was slowly restoring by the time she made it through the door to the stairwell. She didn't take the time to look back, didn't have any desire to honestly, and merely persisted in getting as far away from the area as possible by heading down.

But, as was to be expected, Chouka was not far behind her.

By the time she had made it down the first flight of stairs, the thick metal door she had just exited from was practically blown off its hinges courtesy of a heave-kick by the red-head pursuing her. Despite this, Frenda did not falter in her movements, having already reached the bottom of second flight of stairs which lead to the lower floor. At which point, she no longer cared how battered her body was and slammed her shoulder into the door to open it, causing a surge of pain to travel through body as she did so. She didn't care anymore, so long as she could still run then it was tolerable. It was an action she proceeded to do, though given her current state she knew that she would not get very far before the red-head caught up with her.

That being said, she was not just mindlessly running away from the girl. Rather she was looking for a corpse belonging to the private militia that ITEM was meant to assist in this operation. All of them were armed, though not heavily given the desire to keep things as discrete as possible. That notion was a rather foolish one after everything which she was experiencing. At the same time it aggravated her to know that if this job's conditions didn't involve keeping damage to a minimum, she would set some explosive charges throughout the place and been perfectly fine at this point. That decision and that stupid condition had landed her knee deep in shit's creek with no paddle to fall back on.

Those thoughts and frustrations were abruptly forgotten when the familiar sound of a metal door being kicked in rang through the vacant hallways; spurring on the blonde's frantic search for a firearm of some sort. Because of the blood seeping from her mouth, it wouldn't take long for Chouka to track her down and mop the floor with her once she caught up. Add to it that she was not in prime condition and you have a rather frantic young woman with little time remaining before she was caught. Judging by the patter of the shoe soles slapping against the floor, it may already be too late since the sound was becoming louder with each second that passed.

Her assumption was not too far off from the truth; as Chouka indeed was trailing not far behind her. It wasn't hard to follow her really thanks to the blood she was leaving behind so losing sight of her wouldn't be a problem. Traps and ambushes in a hallway were not likely either considering that, unless it was a lethal trap, she could temporarily shrug it off and eliminate the girl the moment she showed herself. Given, she didn't actively seek to receive more harm than necessary since she would eventually need to come down from her adrenaline high. When that happened, she would no longer be capable of ignoring the damage in which she had sustained; thus everything that was done to her would inevitably be felt at some point in time. It was part of the reason she disliked using her Ante-Up; as it may make her a walking juggernaut against all non-fatal attacks and a deadly at close-quarters combat, but the price she paid to use it almost made it not worth having.

She would become nearly indestructible, but it was only temporary. Eventually, she would feel everything that was inflicted upon her and when it did it was never a pretty sight to behold.

It was because of this that she refrained from using it to its fullest extent until a certain point in conflict. If she were to ever draw blood from anything, from say a knife or a bullet, that acted as the indicator to let go of the restraints and mercilessly end the offending party as quickly as possible to treat the said injury before more accumulated. Some would argue that was being reliant, some would agree that it was wise to restrain herself in that manner. To the members of ORDER it was a effective, but all the same dangerous, tactic and that was the only real input she needed on the matter.

Regardless of who's opinion was given, anyone could agree that provoking Chouka in this way was a sure-fire way of receiving one of the worst beatings of their lives.

Said beast herself was nearing her target at that very moment; having caught sight of the blonde rounding the corner further down the hallway which she was approaching. In just a few more minutes, in just a couple more feet, she would have her target in her grasp and finally be rid of her. Given her current state of being, though Kurou would not agree with it, she would be forced to prolong her ability's effects until the objective was complete. What that translated to was she not only needed to kill the girl quickly, but also avoid any more injuries from here on to avoid the risk of her life being in jeopardy once the job was done. Not necessarily the best option given how important this assignment was to ORDER, but if helped bring about their success then it would ultimately be worth it.

But that train of thought was soon forgotten the instant she turned the corner. The reason being was understandable since, upon entering the corridor, the dry sound of a gun-shot rang out and priced through her right shoulder and into the wall behind her. Though, opposed to surprise or shock which normally would have been the dominant emotion displayed, Chouka's hazel gray eyes spared the wound a glance before addressing the girl who had fired to weapon. It was a look of acknowledging she was harmed and awareness that Frenda now had a gun at her disposal; having taken it from the previous owner who lay dead by the blonde's feet.

Frenda, on the other hand, was still cursing her lack of sight due to the haze that made up her vision. Had she been able to see properly, the gunshot would have connected with the girl's head and immediately put an end to this conflict. Now with the element of surprise lost, the blonde could only hope for the best as she squeezed the trigger and fired another round at her foe. But Chouka wasn't simply going to allow her to hit her and thus made a hasty advance forward, weaving from left to right as a means to throw off the girl's aim. It did its job as several more bullets that followed hit nothing but air. It wasn't until the red-head was a few feet away from her that another round met its mark; this time connecting with the girl's upper arm and the collarbone.

Sadly, Frenda was not given the chance to make a final shot that would have undoubtedly connected with the girl's cranium. Thanks to the girl's longer arm-length, she was able to grasp a hold of the gun before Frenda could attempt to backpedal away and forcefully pull back the slide and open the chamber to expel the bullet inside. Having succeeded in the task, Chouka fiercely pulled the gun towards her, causing Frenda as well to stumble forward. With that action, Frenda was once again exposed to the tremendous force of the girl's powerful legs as her knee rose up and slammed into her ribs; which were now broken at this point. No longer possessing the strength to stand, Frenda's body collapsed shortly after the blow had connected; leaving her at the mercy of her target who was still holding the firmly in her grip.

"Time's up Blondie." Was the rather sober statement made by the track-suit wearing teen, her expression blank but eyes filled with a hint of remorse as she removed her hold on the gun letting Frenda's arm drop almost lifelessly beside her. "It's been fun, but I still have a job to do here…so please don't struggle so I can make this quick."

The words which were being spoken to her hardly reached blonde's ears before the single hand clasped around her neck. Because of the previous shot fired at her, her left arm was left unusable and thus Chouka was forced to make do with only one arm. One arm, however, was more than enough to dispose of a girl too badly battered and beaten to even put up a fight anymore. It wasn't an inaccurate statement really, as Frenda's already blurry vision began to degrade further. It was amazing that she could still keep her eyes open at all given all that had happened leading to this point. What was more amazing than that, was there was enough strength in her to raise the gun still loosely held in her hand up in a last-ditch attempt to shoot the girl. Given the angle in which the weapon was being held, the bullet would, in theory, manage to penetrate through the girl's chin and up through her jaw and into her brain.

All that remained was to pull the trigger, a single finger movement and this monster would finally be put down for good.

And just when her finger was about to apply the amount of pressure needed to accomplish this task; something changed.

To be specific, someone's hand had placed itself onto Chouka's shoulder and pulled her away from the blonde.

She couldn't see what had happened; she didn't see who it was that had forced the girl's body to turn away and face the owner of that hand. But in the next instant, all she could see was Chouka's head jerking to the side as if she had been struck by something. In this particular case, she was struck by someone, the force applied and the suddenness of the action being the last touch needed to finally render the beast known as Chouka unconscious. There was no mistaking it this time, no gimmicks to be played on this girl's part; she was legality out cold and lying directly beside her. Despite her weakened state, despite how her body was practically screaming out in pain, Frenda's bright blue eyes made a vain attempt to make out the individual who had done this.

But her vision was far to blurred at this point, darkness was creeping around the edge of her vision as her eyelids slowly came to a close.

The only noteworthy thing in which she saw as the darkness consumed her was a mass of spiky black hair hovering above her.

* * *

Annnnnnd we're at the bottom again.

Okay, since this arc is (finally) coming to a close, I want to express something here and now. Specifically, the final scene with Chouka and Frenda's fight. Yes, cliche and anticlimactic as it was, but it was necessary given what's to come. Remember, Chouka's taken a beating herself and has been intent on Frenda since the beginning. No time to tense up the muscles after getting hit in the face like that is gonna end with a knockout, especially since the fist belongs to a certain person who's infamous for his mean-right hooks. Also, I want to show something else with that particular scene; specifically how Frenda could have killed her. This kinda method shows that, even if things hadn't unfolded the way they had, Frenda would have still lived through this. But you all want her to live, I want her to live, so we get our dose of Touman here and everyone's finally happy.

Don't worry, next chapter will explain how he got there and all that jazz. I got myself covered here so don't be quick to judge me.

Now, in regards to Kurou and Sakurai's fights. Sakurai's ability will be revealed next chapter, mainly because I couldn't add it in this time around due to over-stressing the boundaries of my word-count quota. As for Kurou's fight, again, I have a hard time doing his fight with Mugino who's ranged and I hate the repetitiveness of her scenes. Still working on that, and I hope the silicone burn thing people have been asking me about has finally been resolved; yes she uses it so you can now stop asking me about it.

As usual, if there are any inquiries, thoughts, or concerns that arise in your mind, feel free to address them to me and I'll do what I can to answer them. Otherwise, I hope you enjoyed my little piece of work.

Goodbye for now.


	15. Bumps Along the Dimly Lit Path

Greetings to all!

Yeah, this chapter took far longer than I liked to come out and I hope you can all come forgive me for the long wait you had to endure here. I'm gonna be honest, I really don't have much to say here except that this chapters somewhat shorter than my previous chapters. Aside from that, I hope you enjoy the newest chapter of A Certain World of Darkness!

* * *

When Touma made the decision to come to the Seiren Facility, he didn't wholeheartedly believe he would witness things to the extent in which he did. If he were to be honest, he didn't expect to find much; having opted to believe that things would not be as bad as he had suspected. For all he knew, the written report of the video he had seen could have been false and there were no gunshots or any real danger at all.

That was what he wanted to believe, the optimistic way of seeing things, and the way he was trying to view the situation in hopes that he was right. If such a thing was occurring in the first place, Anti-Skill would have been called in to resolve the issue or, worst case scenario, Mugino would have taken care of it herself.

But that was not the case here; not at all if the sight of a profusely bleeding young woman was of any indication. Frenda didn't appear in a much better condition, having also been rendered unconscious shortly after he had knocked the girl choking her out. If he felt bad about performing such an action, it was overshadowed by his concern for the wellbeing of both individuals laying on the floor. Of course, having traversed as fast as he could up the stairs, he had also been given the pleasure of seeing several lifeless bodies strewn about the facility; which was a large contributor in paling his skin almost completely white.

Still, it was commendable in itself to know that someone as ordinary as him could keep the contents of his stomach from spilling out and persist in ensuring Mugino's safety.

"…Kamijou-san?"

Dark blue spheres were forcefully torn away from the sight below him as he turned towards individual who had addressed him. Takitsubo was the first person whom he had found as he climbed to the upper levels of the facility. She had been in the process of descending the stairs while he was proceeding up them, though neither party was expecting to see the other during a time like this. Startled as he was by her appearance here, he was at the very least relieved to note that she appeared unharmed. Of course, given the severity of the situation he currently found himself in, many questions were still buzzing around in his mind prior to crossing paths with Rikou. Among that list of questions, the first answer which Touma was concerned about was her well-being, in addition to Mugino's location inside the building.

As previously stated, Rikou's state of being was relatively unharmed, though muttering something about her ears still ringing. When it came around to the inquiry regarding the Meltdowner, the quiet girl admitted to not knowing where precisely she was located; something which did not sit well with Kamijou. His troubles were put at ease when he reminded himself of what the girl could do, but the uneasiness in his gut persisted still. With the first priority, in his mind at least, now addressed Kamijou went towards the next big question currently on his mind.

Said inquiry was the reason behind the gunshots, why she and Mugino were there in the first place, and generally what else going that was going on inside the facility. Rikou, surprisingly, was very compliant with his questions, allowing him the time to properly address his concerns about the situation, and answered them in the same drone-like fashion.

The answers she provided, however, were not all true since this was something which the boy had no business being a part of.

Touma still didn't completely understand the situation, though it was pretty hard to when there were dead bodies laying around the building for anyone to see. From what Takitsubo had told him, an armed group similar to that of Skill-Out was attempting to cause internal strife within Academy City by broadcasting some sort of information across all major communication lines. What the information itself was, Rikou didn't know; all that she did know was that it was important enough to warrant concern. He didn't bother asking how she knew all this, having already come to the conclusion that Mugino had forced it out of someone taking part in this event using her ability for intimidation purposes.

As for the reason she was here in the first place, her response was something he could kind of understand; having claimed that she and Mugino grew concerned after hearing the gunshots and came to see if they could assist in some way.

Touma wasn't an idiot though, despite all those who assumed otherwise. His nose hadn't been out in the cold at all, so he could practically smell the bullshit rolling off that explanation. Mugino was in this building somewhere and from the few interactions that they had he had not once viewed her as a compassionate girl in the slightest. She was a nut-job, anyone who saw how she really acted would agree to that and someone of that nature didn't just walk into a danger-zone to help someone from the goodness of her heart.

So that left the question hanging as to what the girl's were really doing here? What was the real reason for stepping into an obviously hostile situation? Was Mugino really as crazy as he had been assuming all this time?

Though, as small as the percentage was, there was a possibility that he could be wrong and was merely letting his few experiences make him delusional. Even if that was the case, however, the excuse Rikou provided still made him skeptical about Shizuri's intentions here. But, in spite of his suspicions, Kamijou accepted the explanation for the time being; having already prioritized locating the other girl in question before more people got hurt or killed.

That was before he heard gun-fire rung out; which inevitably resulted in the scene in which we find the two currently in. Two injured, one being more extensively wounded than the other, and a dead body laying not much further away from them. The glance in which he shot at the girl behind him was brief, as he returned his gaze back down to the blonde who looked far from peaceful in her current state. Checking her pulse, he found that her heartbeat wasn't erratic or faint, meaning most of her injuries were external and nothing was internally was damaged.

The red-head, on the other hand, was bleeding profusely to the point that her skin was just as pale as his own. His concerns were justified as he checked her pulse, as the difference between the two girl's was distinctive even for someone like him who only knew these few basic things in terms of medical procedures.

"Frenda-san's f-fine, but this girl here needs to get to a hospital." HIs tone was far from steady as he witnessed blood continuing to poor out from the gunshot wounds on the girl's body; though to be fair his entire body was trembling as well with what he was seeing. "C-call an ambulance."

"…She won't make it." Not surprising, Rikou's tone was flat as she addressed the boy's statement, either not caring or completely missing the rising urgency in his tone. "…she'll die long before she reaches an operation table."

"You don't know that, so stop stalling and call them already!" It didn't take someone of genius level intellect to note that the urgency was steadily being laced with anger. Given the fact that he was crouched down on his haunches beside the red-head, he clearly missed the flicker of emotion that surfaced in Takitsubo's usually lifeless eyes.

"She was assisting the armed group and nearly murdered Frenda."

"I know that, but even so I'm not going to ignore someone who needs saving when they're right in front of me."

As he spoke those words, Kamijou was doing his best to try and find a means to stop the bleeding. Having nothing to use, he took to removing his uniform shirt and wrapped it around the wound near her collarbone, applying as much pressure as he could without causing further harm on the girl. Throughout this action, Takitsubo could only stare with the same dazed look in her eyes as the boy persisted in helping someone who was an enemy of ITEM at the moment.

It wouldn't take much effort on her part to eliminate both the boy and the girl thanks to the gun that was still lying next to Frenda's hand. A few steps, a little elevation, and a pull of a trigger was all that needed to be done to resolve this issue. Indeed the thought did cross her mind, but she did not act on it in any way at all. Instead, she simply watched in silence as the spiky haired boy continued with his self-given task of helping the girl who nearly killed her comrade.

"…Why?"

That particular statement wasn't meant for Touma's ears, hell it wasn't meant to be spoken aloud. The word itself just slipped from her lips just as she was thinking it. It was meant to be a thought for future musings, not during the current state of time and especially not in the presence of others. While she didn't really fancy herself as a recluse, she usually tended to dwell on matters that concerned her on her own as any normal person would. For that reason, it was odd that such a simple slip-up had been made on her part given how she dealt with her own issues. Yet, despite her single word statement clearly spoken loud enough for both parties to hear, Kamijou made no retort. Instead, he persisted with his task of bandaging up the heavily wounded young woman using whatever was around him.

Was he ignoring the question or was he simply too absorbed in his task that he did not hear her?

"I don't need a reason to save someone Takitsubo-san." Those thoughts were effortlessly swept away as Touma's retort was finally made. It wasn't a harshly given retort, though the urgency in his tone may have insinuated it. Rather, it was a tone that one used when asked a very simply question; a tone fitting for someone who was addressing an inquiry over something so elementary that was a wonder why the bothered asking it in the first place. "But if I do need a reason, then it would be because I can; so I will."

Takitsubo, upon hearing this statement, merely stared at the lad in question as he reached into his pocket to retrieve the phone on his person. While that may have been the opportune moment to inform him of the loss of service in the building, her mind was still processing what the boy had said. It wasn't the statement that bothered her honestly, but rather the manner in which he said it which somewhat took her aback a bit.

Usually there was some sort of incentive that drove someone to do something; motivation that would drive them forward to do whatever task a person set their mind to. She, of course, knew this very well since most people who resided in darkness of this city tended to motivated by something or another. Nothing was done out of the goodness of someone's heart; for there was always a motive, an angle which could be exploited later on down the road to be used for their gain.

Going by Kamijou's statement though, this was not something he was doing for the sake of gaining anything. He had no purpose here, no reasoning behind helping someone he didn't even know, someone who would most likely had done him harm had she been given the chance. So why worry about someone who you didn't know, who would likely kill you the first moment they had a chance; what was to gain from that? Perhaps it was his ignorance of the cruel and dark things at work behind the ordinary world he was in. While this likely played a part in his reason to help someone, she felt there was more to it than just ignorance involved here. There was something more to it, more compelling, than just a simple drive to help someone in need because he simply could.

"-ank you, please hurry."

Takitsubo couldn't help but blink upon realizing that, for some reason or another, Touma was able to make a connection to someone using the mobile device. Still blinking in confusion, she calmly retrieved her own and found that, oddly, the connection had been reestablished. As confusing as it was, both herself and Touma jumped at the sound of gun-shots ringing out above them; something that was not very difficult considering it was occurring a floor above them. Having obviously heard the noise, Touma shot his gaze over towards the Rkou as he quickly stood up and started running back towards the staircase; shouting one parting statement as he ran. "Stay here until help shows up!"

For a moment, for the brief instant that she saw the look in his eyes as he ran, Takitsubo Rikou could understand why her friend and leader was interested in the boy known as Kamijou Touma.

And at the same time, she couldn't help but view him as an ignorant fool meddling in affairs that would surely end up killing him.

* * *

When two opposing forces approached one another to conclude their scuffle, a number of thoughts were racing through each individual participating. Both parties shared the same mentality in terms of combat; as neither individual truly had a full mental profile in regards to what the other was capable of. Both held a sliver of knowledge, both were aware to extent of what the other was capable of, and yet both of them were still missing vital pieces to the giant puzzle in regards to fully understanding the other.

Furthermore, while both individuals present possessed the means of inflicting harm on the other, both Sakurai and Kinuhata were largely considered untouchable by normal means of inflicting harm on the other. By all accounts, present injuries aside on Sakurai's part, this conflict could have been labeled as an stalemate since neither of them could do much to harm the other.

That, however, was not actually the case; as a sliver of understanding was all that stood in the way of drawing this tussle into a complete standstill.

Between the two of them, it was Sakurai who was left at a disadvantage since he still had a hard time trying to grasp exactly what Kinuhata's ability was. Saiai, on the other hand, already had a general idea of how he was performing his little disappearing acts. While Saiai may have possessed the means to turning the tides in her favor, having a general idea and actually knowing how Sakurai's ability worked were two different things when it came down to it.

Now came the part of trial and error, something that was well within the realms of her capabilities given that she was not susceptible to being harmed. That said, once the two opposing forces reached a certain point, she was not surprised to find her vanishing from her line of vision.

She did feel the shaft of his heavy weapon slamming itself into her ribcage though, even with the weight and force applied, it amounted to nothing but shift her body to the side a bit. Now that she was aware of the target's location and without turning to face him, she used the arm along the side which he had struck to push the muzzle down almost into the dirt before twisting her body and launching a blind right hook at the male teen. The term 'blind' here actually being literal since Kinuhata's eyes remained firmly closed as she made the attack; using the shaft of the weapon he had used to strike her with as a guidance tool to finding him. She couldn't see it, but with the way the gun she was holding angle shifting, he must have avoided it by ducking underneath the attack. Which was fine, for she quickly released her hold on the gun, stepped forward a single step, and sent a swift uppercut where she believed his head was to be located.

Sakurai, however, wasn't someone who could be underestimated in close-quarters combat despite what most would believe. His ability was something that was easy to squander, he himself would admit he used it a little too often, but that did not mean he was a chump in these kinds of situations. That said, with the left uppercut approaching his face, Sakurai simply leaned himself back as the girl's fist flew passed him and barely missing the tip of his nose. Though, since he was already crouched over, one would think he would have fallen onto the dirt as a result of this action; but that was not the case here. Since the girl had released the hold on his gun and the manner in which he was holding it, he simply slackened his grip, let it slide backwards, and used the butt end of the weapon to not only catch himself mid-fall, but also quickly allow him to adjust himself to move out of the girl's way.

He was silently thankful for that since, if he hadn't, he would have been hit dead in the chest by the quick straight jab that followed the uppercut; her fist hitting nothing but air and thus forcing her to open her eyes briefly to evaluate where her opponent was before closing them again. The action itself wasn't one that she intentionally performed, rather it was done out of habit since fighting someone like this was not something she usually, or ever, did. Sakurai, though, had witnessed it and couldn't contain himself as he allowed his chuckles to escape from his lips. Even though his laughter did give away his position and cause the girl to continue her blinded assault on him, the teen's laughter did not stop.

"Are you really trying to fight me with your eyes closed?" Inquired the lad between chuckles, the tone he was using being a mixture of both amusement and disbelief as he continued to easily avoid the girl's attacks. "Is that really the only solution you could come up with?"

He of course knew she heard him, though he wasn't graced with an answer from the girl whom he was speaking too. It didn't stop her from attack him though, her fists swiping through the air as she listened as intently as possible to determine where he was. In spite of being unable to hit him, however, Sakurai couldn't deny that she was good at this sort of thing. He couldn't hurt her and she knew to an extent that she wouldn't ever hit him under normal means. But she didn't really have much of a choice in this situation; so she was forced to use this method regardless of how inefficient it was for combat. This was proven to her when, she guessed, the heavy weapon in his possession slammed into the side of her head; causing her to instinctively open her eyes due to the force applied once her head jerked.

She bit back the urge to curse aloud when she didn't feel the presence of his weapon against her head anymore; along with his entire presence in front of her. Though, like most other times, the first place she checked for was behind her; something which allowed her to avoid being hit once by the swinging hunk of metal being swung at her head. Having missed his target, Kinuhata used that moment of opportunity to drive her fist into his kidney; compressing a large mass of the nitrogen in the air as her fist traveled to apply a more devastating blow once it connected. All it would take is was a single, clean, hit and she would more than likely rupture internal organ to mush.

Sadly her fist never even made contact with the skin before his body vanished right in front of her eyes.

"Nice try."

As much as she hated to admit it, Kinuhata had to say she underestimated the succession-rate in which the teen could perform his ability. While it was true she had her suspicions about the nature of his ability, the likelihood of Sakurai possibly being a Teleporter wasn't as outlandish as she thought. For in the time it had taken her to turn around and counter his attack, he was able to act and practically appear to her left, right at the edge of her visual range. One factor, however, that was immediately noticed was that his hand was laying flat on her shoulder; that was all. No grip was applied to it, no fingers digging into her skin, nothing; his hand was simply resting on her shoulder as he stood beside her in a manner just as calm.

If this was indeed the case, why was there such an intense burning feeling spreading from her shoulder blade all the way down to her arm? Why did she suddenly feel as though her arm had dunked into a deep fryer? Kinuhata herself couldn't explain why she felt this way, but with that amount of pain shooting up through her body so quickly and so suddenly, her reaction was rather justifiably frantic. Turning herself, she shrugged the teen's hand off her shoulder and quickly stepped back a ways before finally turning to inspect the damage that was done to her; leaving Sakurai to stand where he was. When Kinuhata looked back at her shoulder, however, nothing was wrong with it; not a single part of her arm was injured in the slightest. She must have looked more startled than she realized, for Sakurai's chuckles once again could be heard by her and thus catching her attention.

"It's trippy aint it?" Spoke the lad, his smug expression doing its job at raising the girl's annoyance towards him to greater lengths. "Being hurt but having no injuries to prove you were hurt at all. Seeing me in one spot and the next thing you know I'm gone. It's this kinda trippy shit that makes my ability so fun to use; 'cause it's just so fun watching people like you squirm as you try to figure out if what you're up against is real or a fuckin' illusion."

"You're nothing special; just a super annoying otaku that's all." Spat Kinuhata as she resituated herself to defend herself while keeping her eyes away from the dangling pocket watch that was now wrapped around his hand. "I know what your ability is now, so I super don't need to worry about you hurting me."

"Hehe, you say that, but who's the one who retreated just now; it certainly wasn't me." Responded Sakurai offhandedly, his amusement growing as he saw a flash of anger surface in her eyes at his remark. "You might be bullet-proof, impervious to physical attacks, and may have some bite to match your bark. People like you, however, are pretty shitty when it comes down to pain-tolerance; especially when it's something your nifty defense can't block for you. So I don't care if you know what I can do, hell I don't even care what your ability actually is, but I've just already proven that I_ can_ hurt you, and now that protection of yours is what's gonna end up being your end."

"I'd super love to see you try, damn otaku."

Kinuhata, in spite of saying this, could honestly admit that Sakurai had a valid point. She wasn't proud of admitting it, but knowing one's faults was a critical factor of learning and this was no exception. Her Offense Armor had always been capable of either cushioning or completely nullifying any attack that was ever directed at her. That said, it was a rare for her to actually be injured in most conflicts, thus she was not exposed to sensations of pain like nearly everyone else. But, as Sakurai had already deduced, if anything were to actually inflict injury upon her, it wouldn't take much before she would be incapable of combat since her body simply was not accustomed to being injured. Even still, despite the truth behind his words, she had the awareness of his ability along with a theory behind how to counter it. All she had to do was avoid looking at his silver pocket-watch and she could easily overpower him the moment he approached her for an attack.

Fighting this way wasn't easy by any means if she was to be honest, but it was within the realms of her capabilities so it wasn't entirely hopeless.

"You thought keeping your eyes off my watch was the key to killing me just now, didn't cha?"

With those simple words, every single thought which she had previously formed in her mind just now was thrown into the wind as the sound of Sakurai's voice was heard directly behind her. Less than a second after she acknowledged that his presence was behind her, she also realized that his hand was once again placed on her body. The only difference this time was that he had placed his hand on the back of her neck; along with the fact that he was digging his fingers into her skin. But nothing could prepare her for what followed after this; especially not her considering she was still trying to process how he had moved to his current location despite not once looking at the silver watch.

It was…difficult to explain it in words the pain in which soon struck her not long after realizing his presence. It was a sharp pain, one that was felt quickly and it was excruciating thing to experience. Like a muscle-spasm, only several degrees worse. So sudden and equally as intense, she wouldn't have been blamed for crying out the way she did as it felt as though someone was digging into her neck with a drill-bit. Once more, Sakurai's statement was proven true as the pain that was being inflicted on her was more than enough to drive her into a state of panic that wasn't usually seen on the girl's features. Using both hands, easily pried the teen's fingers off of her and before quickly lashing out with a powerful sweep-kick to bring him to the ground where she could proceed to turn his face into a bloody mess.

That was not to be the case, however, as Sakurai had effectively stopped the attack before it came close; using the shaft of his heavy weapon to stop her attack before it reached his legs. With that action completed, he simply stepped back to avoid the left jab that was aimed at his midsection; pushing the offending fist down with his free hand which still had his watch coiled around it. Fortunately for Saiai, she had the presence of mind to shut her eyes the moment she turned to attack him; thus wasn't subjected to the influence of his ability.

"How the hell…" A rhetorical question is what escaped from Saiai's lips as her eyes scanned the ground to find the man's feet. She was sure that his watch was the trigger behind the activation of his ability. So how did he manage to get close to her when she had been doing her absolute best to avoid doing just that?

"Tell me somethin', when you made your little assessment of me, did you think it was sight that I was messing with?" Apparently, Sakurai had heard her musings, thus gaining her full attention once again. As for Sakurai, both his posture and his tone spoke volumes of how disinterested he was in this little conflict. By all accounts, it was like he was speaking to a child who thought he knew everything there was to know and was dropping them down a couple hundred pegs. "Touch, Taste, Smell, Sight, and Sound; the five basic sensory skills that every person has and uses on a daily basis. Sight is the easiest to trick since it's something we rely on, so I can get how you'd think that. The mistake you made here was that you thought my watch was the only trigger; when in fact it's just the easiest method to use for me."

Sakurai could only watch as the girl's expression contorted into one of intense thought. He didn't need to wait long before it finally registered in her mind the full extent of what he was doing; causing her to instantly raise herself back up to her full height as she rushed towards his voice had originated from. Of course, he had already moved away from that location and was now standing off to her right as she searched to locate the teen she was combating against.

"That's right girly; my watch is just one way of fucking with your sensory skills; you listening to me talk is another." Despite the obvious advantage he now possessed over the girl in question; Sakurai's tone nor his expression did not diverge away from indifference in the slightest. "That's how Reality Crash works; and I still have Taste, and Smell left to work with. As for Touch…well, you've felt the result twice now; let's see how you handle it a third time shall we?"

At any other point in time, Sakurai more than likely would have just used his new favorite toy to dispose of the girl; a thought he mused would have been appropriate given the circumstances. But this little bitch had already put him behind schedule as it was; so what was the point in ending her in such a way? She already gave him a nasty flesh wound, so it could be understandable that he was feeling a bit vindictive about dishing out some just deserved payback before he snuffed her out and finished things up on his end. It wouldn't take long considering precisely what he could do and how effective it had been on the girl in question.

There was no rush here, no reason to try and end this quickly at this point; at least not in his mind.

No, he was going to enjoy this as much as he could after all the trouble and bullshit that had made this job one of the most tedious and annoying assignments he had ever carried out.

* * *

There was no point in denying the ominous feeling that could be felt at pit of Kurou's stomach as he traversed through the corridor leading to his destination. Though it wasn't shown in his expression, those that actually knew how to read him would note a very subtle difference that foretold his feelings of unrest. That subtle differences being the pace in which he was moving increased, the tell-tale twitching of his hands, and the usually lethargic eyes gaining an unusual sharpness as they scanned for anything that may have been amiss. It wasn't hard to imagine why this feeling had crept up given the gunshots that rung out not long ago; something which, by all accounts, should not have occurred on this floor.

Kurou didn't leave things half-finished, both in day-to-day life or during assignments such as these. If something needed to be done, he would do it to the letter and ensure that nothing was standing by the time he was done. It was just how he was, just who he had been for as long as ORDER had known him. He was an efficient leader, ruthless when he needed to be, and he did it all in a manner that one could not help but wonder where or what he had done to become this way.

None amongst the group ever asked him where he gained these traits, for he resided in this world far longer than most of the others. Hell, among the members of ORDER, only Sakurai could honestly say that he had just as much experience in this world as Kurou did. That wasn't saying much though honestly, for even the aforementioned teen could not grasp how Kurou gained the experience he did and turn out the way he had.

None of that really mattered to Kurou though; some could even argue that nothing really mattered to the teen who constantly appeared disinterested in just about everything occurring around him. That wasn't the case all the time, for he was obviously not some emotionless doll. There were things which he cared about, things he himself valued more than anything else in the world; it was just that nobody truly knew of what those things of importance were and none really bothered to ask him. But in this moment, at this point in time, had anyone in ORDER seen him as he was now they more than likely would have seen more than they had in all the time they spent with him as a group.

Upon rounding the corner leading to the Twin's location, the sight which he was exposed to had clearly made a large impact on him. It wasn't the two armed men who were standing by the doorway of an office that caused him to freeze in his tracks. If anything, those people should have been more terrified of him than he was of them. No, the thing which made him cease all movement was the sight of something sticking out of the doorway. It was a limb of a person, the arm of a rather small individual, sticking out from in-between one of the men's legs and was convulsing on the ground as it lay there. At this point, it didn't need to be said what had occurred here, it didn't need to be explained how serious the situation had spiraled downhill, and it most definitely didn't need to be said that Kurou's reaction to this sight was not one of disinterest.

If anything, he looked more alive now than he had been in a long time the moment he witnessed that sight.

Referring to his expression as simply 'anger' would not have done any justice to sheer level of rage that suddenly consumed him. There wasn't a word strong enough to honestly portray what he was feeling in that moment, nor was there an expression that justified how he appeared. Even the actions that followed this sight weren't enough to convey the level of anger which was boiling inside his heart and soul. If nothing else though, it did scratch the surface of how intense his emotions were and how powerful an effect it had on him.

For a moment, no sound was heard; no sound made by him or the men who were present. One would think it was his method of approach to eliminate the opposition that stood before him. But that was not the case, as it was actually the prelude to the storm which was soon to come. The moment it did though, all present both within the corridor and those whom he could not see felt the results. And the results were definaing to say the least, as something akin to thunder soon reverberated throughout the corridor; shattering glass, the lights, the men's sunglasses; anything that could have been effected by the powerful sound created reacted to the shockwave which was used to propel him forward towards the men he could currently see.

Said individuals in question were not fortunate in the least; the glass of their eyewear going into their eyes and effectively blinding both men. That pain however, would soon be replaced by something greater which would silence them both forever. For Kurou's fist, humming loudly thanks to the vibrations he had flowing through him, slammed into the head of the closest individual to him. When the blow connected, all that could be heard was the sound of bone breaking under the pulverizing effect of the teen's fist hitting its mark.

This man was dead in an instant, as the shards of bone pierced his brain and thus caused him to collapse in a lifeless heap on the ground. At this point, Kurou was actually able to visually see two additional men in suits within the office, both startled beyond belief but all the same prepared enough to raise their guns to open fire. Since they weren't directly in the line of his preemptive strike, they weren't suffering from blindness thanks to their eyewear only suffering cracks; though that meant little to him at this point.

These people were all dead to him and there wasn't a damn thing they could do to change that.

With the official first victim now claimed, he didn't waste a second after in grabbing the other individual standing beside him and quickly altered their positions accordingly. By the time the two men inside the room had opened fire, Kurou had effectively turned the other blinded party into his human shield; absorbing several bullets before slamming his palm into the center of the now dead male's back. The shockwave created from this action caused the body to propel forward and into the two remaining members of the squad. One was able to avoid it, while the other was forcefully knocked to the ground as the full dead-weight of their comrade kept him there and knocking away his gun.

Credit needed to be given to the man still standing to have the composer necessary to still focus on raising his gun and trying to eliminating the sudden appearance of their target. Even still, the action was a futile one when Kurou's hand quickly pushed the man's weapon up over his head just as the gun was to be fired; the bullet shooting off the band which held his headphones together and causing both of the mufflers to fall to the floor as a result. But this was not of much importance anymore to the teen at the moment as his fist slammed into the older man's elbow shortly after adjusting his arm.

Once more, the sound of broken bones filled the room as the pulverizing effect of Kurou's fist connected; causing the man's forearm to bend in an unnatural angle as the bone in his arm protruded out from his skin while blood spilled out from the cuffs of his sleeve. Fortunately, he wasn't forced to endure this pain for very long, as Kurou soon after slammed the back of the same hand used in the previous attack into his throat; the vibrations coursing through his fist effectively destroying everything in the area struck and forcing him too to collapse shortly after.

Had someone been watching as these events unfolded, one would be inclined to feel intimidated by the fact that three armed men were eliminated in the span of just two minutes.

Although to an Esper such as himself this kind of feat was not all that impressive.

With three of the four target's now disposed of, Kurou was given the opportunity to take in his surroundings. For the most part, the room was a mess, a mess he himself had no part of and was most likely done by the who were inside when he approached. They were looking for something here, which was understandable given these people were their opposition. They had the information in regards to what ORDER was doing here, so obviously they were looking for the information that was being uploaded to the communication's relay. From the looks of it, however, they didn't seem to have found it or he had arrived just at the right moment to keep them from locating it. Disregarding the sole survivor of the squad, Kurou began rummaging through the mess; though his expression remained unchanged as he moved.

After several moments of searching, he finally found the object he was looking for; specifically the laptop which the information was being uploaded from. Brushing off the device, he opened it up, performed the start-up, and eventually found the message which he was dreading to see. On the display screen, the single message of the upload being interrupted by something; and when he tried to reconnect the message popped up an instant later. Eyes narrowed, he shifted his attention back towards the remaining member who was still trying to reach for his gun; only to freeze once he realized the teen's eyes had landed on him. With a calmness that didn't fit his expression, the teen approached the man, knelt down, and took a firm hold of his head with both hands; peering into the cracked lenses of the man's sunglasses.

"I will make this clear; if the answer you provide is not sufficient then I cannot promise you will survive this ordeal." Just as his approach, the calmness in his tone betrayed the actual expression which was present on his features. To be honest, it was rather chilling thing to experience especially when the individual in question had murdered three others not even five minutes ago. "Now then, who is interfering with the upload; someone inside the building or is it an outside source."

"O-Outside source! W-we originally had a team stationed in the beginning to counteract anything that was being uploaded from the building; but it was taken out shortly after your arrival." Cowardly as it was to give information such as this to an enemy, this man wasn't dumb enough to put up a false bravado when the situation called for it. Human beings did whatever they could to survive, he was no exception, and if that meant giving the teen the information he wanted then by all means he would just to avoid the same end as his squad. "I-it's the truth; I swear."

"Do you know who is causing the interference?"

"N-no, I have no idea who-"

"Then have outlasted you're usefulness."

In one swift movement, Kurou adjusted his hands and sharply twisted the man's neck; the cracking the followed ignored as he released his hold and stood up; his gaze shifting between the two bodies that stood out the most amongst the carnage which he had wrought in this cramped room. Even though his expression shifted back to its less than exuberant state, the sharpness in his gaze did not leave as he turned away from the sight to close up the laptop and tuck it under his arm. He did spare the two younger individuals one last parting glance before turning away from the sight; intent on carrying out the objective in which he and ORDER had intended to.

* * *

"It's always like this with you! Is it really so hard for you to do a simple job without leaving everything in shambles!"

That was the voice of greeting Mugino Shizuri received when she answered her phone. In retrospect, perhaps she should have anticipated this kind of reaction for their backer the moment she saw the number flash on the Caller-ID. But, having gone without any sort of communication until just recently, it was understandable since there was likely to be some new findings that would come about from the woman speaking to her. Though, given how her manager often reacted to ITEM's methods, it still should have been expected to receive such a greeting from the woman.

"Quit fucking wasting my damn time with your useless complaining!" On the flip-side, the manager should have realized that Mugino was most likely not in the best of moods given the circumstances that were taking place. Loss of communications and lack of information regarding their target's would make anyone more or less a little snappy. "I'm expecting something useful out of this little chat, so you better not be calling to bitch at me for something as trivial as collateral damage!"

By these two's reactions, it was safe to assume that neither of the women were in the best of moods given the amount of stress and annoyance that had built up over the course of this incident. Mugino, however, had more of a reason to be annoyed than her backer honestly. While the manager sat back in a comfy chair sipping on bourbon and filling out papers, Mugino was stuck in knee deep in the shit hole without any relevant information regarding who they were up against and what to expect. Or perhaps it was the fact that the target that had the most value to her had slipped away, leading her to continue to play the game of cat and mouse. The fact that he had mocked her so flamboyantly and had escaped with relatively little harm done to him just didn't sit too well with her.

"I'll bitch at you as much as I please! Do you know how much damage you've caused!? The client has been shouting in my ear for half-an-hour now, so I don't want to hear any bitching from you!" Although the woman on the other end of the line had her own justifiable reasons to feeling annoyed with this whole situation. For entirely different reasons of course, but still she had her own battles to fight on her end and it was not as easy a job as Mugino would have been lead to believe. "That isn't the reason I called; but we will talk about this later when the situation is resolved!"

"What do you have or I'm hanging up."

"I don't have any concrete details here, but it seems that this whole fiasco had reached the General Superintendent's attention." That statement alone held more power in it than Mugino cared to admit. It was rare of the individual in question to actually hear anything that occurred outside that strange building without windows. If this job had caught someone like that's attention, then the information which ORDER was trying to upload must have some actual weight to it. "I'm not sure what was done, but some action was made to that pretty much stopped all data from being uploaded in that area of the district. As things are now, your object is still largely the same: get that data and eliminate ORDER if given the opportunity."

"Fine, kill them all and get the data; anything else?"

"Don't disregard me you-"

Mugino didn't even bother to listen to whatever else the woman had to say before hanging up. While the news that the data's upload was stalled, it just meant a larger issue was currently at hand now. With their method of uploading the data now lost, ORDER would most likely set out to find a new location to perform the task; which meant they would be trying escape the building now that the building couldn't serve its intended purpose. While this would usually be a good thing, the fact that the group had the building's layout completely memorized made locating these members difficult. Using security cameras wouldn't work since most on the lower levels were destroyed, and with little to no manpower remaining the likelihood of someone sighting anyone of this group was even slimmer.

There was, however, one method she could use to locate these rats and get it over with. It was a method that had been put off for too long and with so few options left to exploit, it was the best means of finally putting an end to this ridiculous farce of a job behind her and onto more important matters. Admittedly, she was most interested in at least finding that boy who had the audacity to mock her only to cower away the moment he realized he couldn't win against her. With her decision made, Mugino reopened her phone and proceeded to dial Takitsubo's number to inform her of what she needed to do.

Just as she was about to send the call, the clapping of someone's shoes against the marble floor caused her to stop. It wasn't far, it was approaching her at a rapid pace, and it was coming from directly behind her person.

She didn't hesitate a second after hearing the noise in turning around, a single large sphere of green light phased into existence in front of her opened hand before being fired without waiting to see precisely who was approaching her. Oddly enough, just as quickly as that stream of light was fired, it was erased as if they had never been fired at all. As this occurred, a familiar sound of something akin to glass breaking filled the corridor she was currently in.

"Gahhhh!"

Along with the startled cry of a very familiar voice that succeeded in causing the girl a moment of pause.

"Eh?"

For standing in front of her, clad in an orange shirt and standard uniform slacks, stood the spiky haired youth whom had become both the center of her interest and the subject of her irritation.

"U-um, I guess you're okay then Mugino-san?"

"Kaaamiiiiijouuuuu!"

And just like that, Mugino Shizuri's irritation reached new heights as yet another issue was now tossed into her lap.

* * *

Aaand cut!

Now, again, a little bit of a cliff-hanger here since I know people are looking for more TouMAN. Yes, I said it, and its gonna happen I promise. While I'm not particularly happy with this chapter, it at least had a good chunk of action in it to keep it from being yet another info-dump. Though, at this stage of the arc, it was bound to show up to explain at least a few things. If it was a bit too much though, I apologize now and just sit in my corner here to cry.

Also, as I said last chapter, Sakurai's ability is now finally shown to you all so you can stop guessing in terms of what it is. There is more too it than what was said, but I'm pretty sure most of you already figured that much out on your own. If you though it was a half-assed explanation...well, this is Sakurai, so of course that's what your gonna get from him. Take that however you please; but just know that there is more to it than what was written here; something that will be shown in the conclusion of their fight.

As usual, if there are any inquiries, thoughts, or concerns that arise in your mind, feel free to address them to me and I'll do what I can to answer them. Otherwise, I hope you enjoyed my little piece of work.

Goodbye for now.


	16. The Things Fate Dictates

Greetings to all!

Sorry this took so long, but I had a bit of a writers block in terms of how to get this chapter rolling. Thankfully, I got passed it; so no worries. Anyway, enough talk, lets get cracking! I hope you all enjoy the latest installment of A Certain World of Darkness!

* * *

Kamijou Touma, for the umpteenth time in very same day, mentally cursed whatever malicious force which felt the need to plague him with misfortune. He would admit that it was his own decision to come to this place to begin with; so that wasn't the reason for his indignation towards fate. Judging from what he could make out from where he was, the girl was relatively unharmed; though her clothes were in a much sorrier state of wear than she was. So what was he blaming fate for? By all accounts, he should have been thanking whatever force for making sure the girl wasn't hurt or dead. Surely that was a reward in itself right? That should have been enough to sate him and his curiosity in regards to Mugino's well being.

But that was not the case; fate still felt the need to remind him that he was its bitch and that he always would be. No amount of good luck he received, be it minuscule or enormous, was given to him without his negative luck lurking somewhere behind it. If something good ever happened to him, something bad was not far behind it and would only be but so patient before finally rearing its ugly head. That was how his life worked, what he had come to expect, and it most likely wouldn't alter from that pattern anytime soon. It may have been something he had come to accept, Touma just wished for a single instance where his misfortune would just cut him a break and let him enjoy his good fortune for a change.

But that wasn't the case, it would never be the case; hence the reason he cursed fate. Because, as fate dictated that he needed to be stuck dealing with a relatively pissed off Mugino who did not appear to be pleased with his appearance.

"What the _hell_ are you doing here!?" The sheer ferocity of her tone was enough of an indication that she was frustrated beyond anything at this very moment. Even if her tone wasn't enough, the heavy scowl present on her lips and the furrowed brow would have done its job and telling him that she was not pleased with him for reasons he didn't know. "Can't you see that I don't have time to deal with you right now you fucking pest!?"

Yes, he could see that she in fact didn't have the time to do such a thing. Given how bad this situation was, he could understand to a degree why she was angry with him. By all accounts, Touma was still your average, ordinary, high school student with no abilities that could be used to help her in dealing with this large problem currently at hand. Kamijou understood, to a degree, that he was virtually useless here, that he could do little against people who were armed with guns that could easily kill him in less than an instant. There were no delusions about whether or not these supposed 'terrorists' were willing to kill anyone inside the building; and him being here virtually without any means of precaution against forces like that was justifiable enough of a reason for her to be upset with him.

For that reason, Kamijou mused that she had a legitimate reason to be upset with his unexpected and, most likely unwanted, appearance here.

"I, um, heard the gunshots and knew you were somewhere in the building." Began the lad truthfully; his hand findings itself on the back on the back of his neck as a sign for how awkward he felt at the moment. "I thought that-"

"You thought I was hurt? That I needed help? And a piss-ant like you was going to come in and save the day like some fucking hero or something?" Judging by the way both her tone and her expression remained the same, it seemed she was not pleased with where Kamijou's statement was going. "Didn't I make it clear to you before that I'm not some fucking damsel in distress?"

"Yes, yes, you made that pretty clear the first time around." Groaned out the teen, his shoulders sagging a bit at the assumption that Mugino had made upon interrupting him. "I just wanted to make sure you and the others were alright."

What part of that was so difficult for these girl's to understand? Sure, normal people wouldn't come into an obviously hostile environment just for the sake of ensuring a person or people's safety in mind. Then again, most people didn't suffer from misfortune everyday of their lives. The point being was that Kamijou Touma was an average individual by most standards with the exception of one; and that one thing was something he could honestly say was his fortune. If he saw someone who needed help, regardless of if they asked him to or not, he would do everything that he possibly could to do so. A reason wasn't necessary in his mind to help someone; in fact he believed people shouldn't ever try to find a reason to help someone. If a reason was needed, then they were not doing it solely because they could; but instead doing it for the sake of gaining something from it.

Touma didn't think that way, as helping someone was rewarding enough for him in his mind. Did helping something always require some ulterior motive behind it? Was it really so outlandish for someone to extend their hand out to someone in need for no other reason aside from being able and willing to do so?

Apparently, Mugino and Rikou believed that to be the case; something he didn't particularly blame them for considering how the world worked these days.

"Well, as you can see, I'm fine; so fucking beat it already you pest." Was Mugino's retort as she brushed away the locks of her long hair off her shoulder, clicking her tongue as she turned her attention back towards her phone. "The last thing I need to deal with right now is babysitting your sorry ass."

"You won't have to; just tell me how I can help."

"You can help by jumping out a window; it'll be a nice start."

"Be serious! I want to help, so just tell me what you need me to do and I'll do it."

"I _am_ telling you how to help; it involves going out a door or jumping through a window and getting the fuck out of here."

"Do you want me to take Takitsubo and Frenda with me or-"

"Do I fucking need to spell it out for you!?" It seemed that Mugino's patience had finally reached its peak, having finally turned her attention away from her phone and leveling the teen with a heavily fierce look. It was a look similar to which Kamijou had been subjected to a few times in the few instances that the two interacted with one another; though this one bore a more dangerous edge to it than the previous ones he had witnessed prior. "We don't need your help! What part of that is so damn hard for you to understand, you piece of shit!? So take a hint, quit sticking your nose in our business, and hit the fucking bricks!"

For a moment, regardless of how fleeting the feeling was, Touma actually wanted to slap the girl if for no other reason than to actually take him seriously. He didn't though, which may have been the wisest decision he could have made since he stepped foot into this building. Why couldn't she just let him help her? What was so hard about just accepting someone else's help when it may be needed most? Having witnessed how close Frenda was to being killed, how could Mugino say no to a helping hand? Was it pride that was keeping her from accepting his aid or did she truly believe that his help was not needed? Many questions surfaced, all driven by frustration at the girl in front of him.

With those emotions boiling up inside him, the temptation to act on them increased as pressure began to build up until it burst.

He may have been able to suppress the urge to slap the girl, but he could not suppress the words that formulated in his mind and shortly after spoken aloud for her to hear.

"You think I'm just going to walk away from this after what happened to your friend Frenda!?" That simple line, that single proclamation, was something which had succeeded in silencing whatever other forms of retort the girl would have made. She didn't appear startled, confused, or even remotely concerned about the statement; but her silence after those words served as the only sign that indicated she acknowledged whatever it was he had to say. "One of those people almost killed her; and if I hadn't done something she really would be dead right now! After seeing that, do you really think that it's right for me to just walk away when that could almost happen to you or Rikou too? Do you really think that I could just ignore all of this just because you tell me to!?"

For a moment, and only for a moment, Mugino felt the temptation to eradicate the teen where he stood just for the fuck of it. The temptation wasn't a relatively strong one, thus the reason it was a fleeting thought and not as enduring as it could have been. If a reason needed to given, then she had plenty of those to pass around to anyone who was brazen enough to question her about it. From something of actual legitimacy like keeping the number of witnesses to a minimum to something as trivial as him raising his voice at her; anything would suffice at this point.

She could do it, she knew it and at this point it could be said that Touma knew it as well. The fact of the matter, however, was that she didn't, no blinding sphere's of light appeared, no sense of malice came from the girl; nothing. She simply stood there, observing him as if weighing the options of allowing him to impose on the matter at hand.

She wouldn't deny that the idea of seeing how Kamijou would fair in this situation against people similar to her who were willing to kill him. Her defeat at his hands was not something that she had forgotten, even if it was claimed in the span of a single minute. She had no doubts that he was aware of her intentions to end his life in that duel; and if he wasn't then he was just a larger fool than she originally pegged him for. That in mind, how would he perform under the same conditions if faced against a different ability and a different person? Would he survive the conflict or would he die as a result of his amateurish and ignorant belief that he could do something he clearly could not?

Fate had dealt her the cards needed to see for herself if the individual in front of her, Kamijou Touma, was truly worth her interest or not. Such an opportunity would not be presented to her again if she were to fold now, all that could be done at this point was play the hand she was dealt. It wasn't like she was taking a massive gamble; either option would prove beneficial to some degree or another in the event that he did encounter a member of ORDER. If he survived the conflict, all it would mean to her was that he was worth her time of day and if he met his end in this place than he would just become a fleeting afterthought in her subconscious mind.

Case in point, she had far more to gain from this than just another pawn on the board for her to use. Besides, with Frenda apparently being removed from the game, there was a spot on the board that needed to be replaced. Kamijou was obviously willing to take up the role, why not give him the chance he so zealously desired?

"…fine, I'll humor you." Was the eventual response given to Touma's declaration, her words coming out just as slowly as her approach towards the fellow teen. As she made her approach, her hand slipped itself behind her back as she went to retrieve something contained in the rear pocket of her shorts. "You wanna help so badly, fine; I'll give you something to do. It's a simple task so don't worry, the chances of you fucking this up are pretty slim even for you."

Once the distance between the two of them was effectively closed, Mugino's hand emerged from behind her back, allowing Touma the privilege to see something he wasn't particularly expecting. The object in which Mugino was holding was a simple clear-glass case that was about the size of those used to hold mechanical pencil lead; only instead of lead it contained a strange white-powder that was shifting around inside as she held it. In a way, it looked like she was holding a case filled with sugar or salt, but the small cloud that was accumulating inside the casing told him otherwise.

"Find Takitsubo, give this to her, and tell her to call me as soon as you get there." Continued the girl without pause as she extended the container for Touma to take. He did so accordingly, but when he went to pull it away from her the girl's grip tightened; causing his attention to return back to her face as she leveled him with an intense glare that spoke volumes of her current temperament. "If you lose this I'll personally make a new hole for you to shit out of; are we clear?"

"Y-yeah, crystal." Worry wasn't what caused the slight hiccup in his speech as the girl released her hold on the object and allowed the teen in question to give it another once over before raising the biggest question on his mind at the current moment. "But is this really all you need me to do?"

"You know the saying 'don't look a gift horse in the mouth'?" The question which was being addressed was answered with a sigh in addition to a single nod of the head from the spiky haired youth. "Well, you're doing that; so shut you damn mouth and be grateful. I'm letting you do this just because I'm tired of hearing you gripe about it."

"Alright, alright," Moaned Touma, almost pathetically, as he waved off the rest of the girl's statement with his hand. "I'm not complaining, but I'll stop asking anyways."

"Good; maybe you aren't such a lost cause after all."

"Fukou-da…" Groaned out Kamijou as he pocketed the container holding the conspicuous powder, sagging his shoulders as he did so. Though, one particular thought did cross his mind that he felt inclined to address; thus he impulsively asked. "What are you going to do?"

"Good god, I was wrong, you are a lost cause."

"Would you stop saying that!?"

"Then stop asking questions and do what I tell you to!"

The single reason Touma didn't retort to this in any way was due to the fact that Mugino had a solid point. He was already imposing on her a lot since she truly didn't seem to want or need his help. Kamijou liked to believe that he was above imposing on others if they did not want his company or his assistance. Most people were usually welcome to the idea of attaining some assistance for even the most minor of things. But Mugino was not one of those people; having claimed twice how she wasn't a damsel in distress and flat-out rejected the idea of assistance.

Most times, he wouldn't have gone to the extent in which he was to provide aid to someone, especially if they didn't want it in the first place. But, then again, most of those situations weren't as dire as the one he was currently getting himself wrapped up into. Even still, he had to admit that he was being overly pushy in this situation and concede to Mugino's lack of any answers to his questions.

That said, having swallowed his pride, Touma simply let out an exasperated sigh which sounded oddly similar to "Fukou-da" before nodding his head and turning around and running back in the direction he came from.

As Kamijou's form eventually disappeared out of her line of vision, Mugino's expression remained largely the same as turned her attention back towards her phone. Even if the pest she had come to know as Kamijou Touma was an annoyance and infuriating on several levels, she had to give the guy some credit. He had the gall to stand up to her, despite knowing to an extent of what she was capable of doing to him. It took more than just courage or determination to stand up to someone of her status; though in his case she was willing to say it was stupidity that drove him to act so brashly. Even still, he was at least an efficient tool to exploit when he actually did what was asked of him.

Who knows, maybe she could gain some use out of him in the future should things went well enough. Given, he still annoyed her to no end, but he was a card she would rather have on hand rather than be used against her in the future.

All that remained now was to see if he was worth it.

"Takitsubo, it's me-"

* * *

Kinuhata wasn't given much of a warning after the given the little tidbit of information from Sakurai regarding what he could do. In retrospect, predicting how Sakurai moved or what he would do was not something that could be done with the knowledge she had just been given. That said, her body still mid-crouch, Sakurai's body suddenly moved from being a couple feet in front of her, to merely a few inches. But instead of his hand being pressed into her face, she instead found the bottom of his shoe moving right into her face. With no time to dodge due to the abruptness of it all, it wouldn't have been a bit surprise to anyone that the attack succeeded in connecting with her face.

The attack itself didn't hurt honestly, for her own ability was still in effect and blocked the actual damage she would have received had it not been there. If anything, all the attack had done was knock her flat on her back due to all the weight that was applied by the teen's actions. For this reason Kinuhata's eyes remained fully open to witness Sakurai holding the massive weapon at his disposal in a horizontal manner; his intentions being quite clear as he prepped to slam the object down on her and effectively pin her to the ground as she moved to sit up.

The action itself wouldn't have been so bad, again thanks largely to her Offense Armor, but she knew that wasn't his true intention. For this reason, Kinuhata instead lower herself back down to the ground and use that same momentum to roll backwards; the loud clang of the thick metal belonging to the weapon telling her all that it needed to.

Once her roll was complete, she once again found herself mid-crouch and made a hasty attempt to rush forward now that he too was on the ground with her. If she could grab him, limit his movements even for a few seconds, then whatever pain she would have felt in that moment would be worth it as it would provide the necessary moment she needed to finally end the suave young man. But her actions were met with nothing but negative results, as the teen not only avoided her attack, but countered her as well by gripping the back of her head and forcefully slamming her face first into the dirt.

A cry of agony soon followed this action as a less than pleasant sensation traveled down from the back of her head all way down to her tailbone; courtesy of Sakurai's ability taking effect. Describing the amount of pain she was currently being subjected to was not possible for her to actually define. Even if she wasn't actually being subjected to it at the current moment, she sincerely doubted that anything she could possibly imagine would ever come close to detailing what she was subjected to. All she knew was that it was excruciating and that she needed to get the guy's hand off her.

She proceeded to do just that by rolling to her side whilst using her available hand to swing a momentum-driven backhand to where she assumed the teen's head was located. The attack missed, unfortunately, but at the very least the pain had stopped once the teen's hand was removed. Oddly enough, though, Saiai couldn't help but notice that he hadn't retreated as suddenly as he had in his approach. In fact, now that she thought about it, most of the instances where he had touched her he retreated in that same normal manner as he usually did when gaining distance. Why wasn't his retreat performed in the same manner as his approach? Why was she able to see him backing away and not just suddenly being a sum-odd distance away?

Taking into account her previous assessment in regards to the distance he usually tried to maintain, she could conclude that distance was a key element in how his ability worked. But why keep his distance, why do that and yet never use the particle accelerator to simply finish her? On that subject, why wasn't he using that gun in the first place to simply finish her? Did he have doubts regarding it hitting her, did it run out of energy, or did he merely wish to toy with her and finish her off with it once he was done fooling around? These were questions that she had no real answers to, but given the state of events every bit of information she was attaining was being calculated and noted for the sake of solving the giant puzzle that made up her target.

Those thoughts, however, were put aside for the time being as she quickly returned to her feet in pursuit of the individual in question; using that bit of knowledge gained to hopefully exploit an advantage. Having said that and the short gap in distance between the two being closed, she proceeded to swing several punches in rapid succession towards the teen's face and body. But, once again, Sakurai demonstrated his combat skills when he was not relying on his ability; having dodged, ducked, and maneuvered just about every attack she tried to make. Both of which were still moving throughout it all, Sakurai still in the process of gaining distance while Saiai worked to stay as close as she could in her advancement.

Unfortunately for Sakurai, Kinuhata's advancement was far more overwhelming than he originally perceived it to be. For in his attempt to gain distance whilst simultaneously avoiding the girl's attacks, a simple poor placement in footing resulted in a less than gracious maneuver that nearly sent him to the ground on his back. While he did in fact stumble at bit, he was able to avoid falling to the ground as a result of lost balance. Correcting that mistake, however, proved to be a grave error on his part as it left him open for the girl attacking him to exploit.

And almost the instant she saw it, Kinuhata took it; her fist landing a vicious uppercut right to the teen's chin with enough force behind it to knock the well-groom teen easily off his feet as a result. If seeing that sight wasn't enough to bring satisfaction, the loud crunch of his jaw fracturing or the blood emerging from his mouth surely would have sufficed. Either way, Saiai relished at the sight of his tall stature landing harshly on the ground whilst the weapon he had carrying flew off and landed a ways away from his person; leaving him a groaning and dirt-covered mess thanks to the harsh landing.

Worse yet for the taller teen, Saiai had not chosen to maintain her distance when her attack had successfully connected. She knew well enough now that allowing him distance simply would not do her any good. Thus the reason why, even after successfully hitting her target, she continued on the offensive; intent in turning the teen into a smear on the ground in which they stood on.

But, once again, Sakurai proved to be more capable of an individual than she expected; having used the distance she herself had made for him to active his ability once more. In the blink of an eye, Sakurai's body was no longer laying on the ground; rather he was instead running over towards the weapon that had been flung off his person after Kinuhata's attack. Cursing to herself, Saiai quickly skid to a halt and altered her course in hopes of reaching him before he could rearm himself. If he was going after it, then it was clear that he had every intention to use it now that it was clear he couldn't win in the manner he was hoping to.

Just as he had avoided her before, Sakurai's form abruptly disappeared from her line of vision. However, something was noticeably different this time around than in previous instances that the girl had been subjected to the teen's ability. That difference being that, when she glanced behind her, Sakurai was still in the process of settling the weapon on his shoulder; leaving her positioned several feet ahead of him. Once she thought about it, over the course of this little conflict, she never really gauged the distance they traveled before, nor did she ever see him performing any other action outside of an attack of some sort.

In that moment, with the barrel of the weapon aimed right at her, Saiai finally was able to understand what precisely was going on; along with the means to finally counter her target's ability.

And when the familiar orange beam of energy finally emerged from the barrel of Sakurai's weapon; Saiai acted in the best manner she could.

Since the beam of energy was aimed at her midsection and moved at a pace akin to a bullet, Saiai had no real choice but to shift her weight to the side while tilting her body at the same time in an attempt to avoid a direct hit from the blast. She wasn't fortunate enough to avoid the beam entirely though, but given the distance between the two of them it was a miracle in itself that she was able to avoid a direct hit in the first place. Instead of taking a direct hit, the beam itself burnt away the fabric of her clothes above her left hip. The skin below, however, was beet red as clear blisters began to form on the surface as a result of the heat generated by the narrow burst of energy fired at her.

The very real burning sensation that traveled up her body as a result of just barely avoiding the beat itself was enough to almost erected a vocal cry of agony from her as stepped as far back as she could away from it. Since she was able to actually see the attack coming, however, she was able to at least steel her nerves from the agony that was to surely follow; thus the only reason she did not cry out as a result. That wasn't to say she wasn't in severe, and very real, pain at the moment; the subconscious hunching of her body as her hand right hand moved to cup around the wound that was inflicted.

Thankfully, after avoiding the blast fired at her, the bright orange energy faded out of existence shortly after she was struck; just as Sakurai made his attempt to turn the weapon to follow after her when she dodged it.

"Well fuck." Now depleted, Sakurai immediately removed the large weapon off of his shoulder; allowing it drop to the ground now that it had outlived its usefulness. "Guess I'm gonna need to go with Plan C the-"

Whatever his next plan was, Sakurai would never be able to follow through with it due in part to the dry gunshot that rung out. The origin of the sound came from Kinuhata herself, having used her left hand to retrieve her pistol that had been tucked away since she lost sight of him a while ago. The bullet itself hadn't hit anything vital unfortunately, but it did connect with its target; hitting him dead in the bicep of his arm holding the silver pocket watch. Proof that he was hit by being the sudden jerk his body made as he fell to the ground clutching the bleeding limb with his now free hand whilst cursing profusely as pain surged through his entire arm.

"You super take it like a bitch." Murmured the Saiai just audible enough for Sakurai to hear as she cautiously made her approach with her small handgun still raised and aimed at the teen on the ground. "I guess you're not too used to super getting hurt either huh?"

"Fuckin' whore!" Despite his current state of mind and the injury sustained, he still possessed enough strength on hand to fling his arm still clutching the watch up into the air; right in front of Kinuhata's visual range.

"Hypnosis, right?" That statement by itself caused all the functions in Sakurai's brain to freeze; his eyes wide and his skin growing increasingly pale as he bewilderingly stared at the approaching short haired girl who had spoken. "You're ability, Reality Crash, creates a verity of effects based on the distance between you and the target; in your case, super affecting the sensory skills. I'd say a Level 4 Hypnosis Esper is capable of paralyzing a person's senses for a super short amount of time. Though, I didn't know they could trick the mind into thinking that the body is in pain; but I guess we've both super learned something here today."

By the time this little bit was over, Kinuhata was practically standing over the teen with her gun aimed right down at the teen's head. Said teen's expression was both a mixture of bewilderment and panic as he tried in vain to drag his body away from the girl standing over him. That was put to an end when her foot slammed onto his arm where the bullet hole was located, instigating a howl of agony to escape from his lips. With only one arm accessible at the moment, he brought his hand to her ankle in an attempt to pry the girl's foot off of his arm. The task was a fruitless one, however, as he simply could not draw out the strength to move the limb in the slightest since all of her weight was being applied to that limb. He even went as far as using his ability on the girl again, but it too did not yield any positive results either; something that only erected more curses to surface from him.

"The thing about Hypnosis is that, if I have something else to super focus on, I can make myself immune to your little tricks; and in this case, pain was my focus point." Finished Kinuhata as she pressed down harder on the teen's arm; causing the teen to yell out louder as a result. "All that being said, I think its super safe to say-"

"Rot in-"

Whatever that was about to be said was cut off by the final gunshot that ultimately silenced the teen forever; his head flopping back onto the ground lifelessly along with the rest of his body as blood splattered in every direction.

"I win."

* * *

It has been said somewhere before that Takitsubo Rikou was not the type of person who personally entered actual conflict on her own during the course of a job. Her ability wasn't meant to be used for that purpose, not meant for an actual engagement of any sort. She was a tracker, nothing more and nothing less than that within ITEM's group dynamic; if there was one to begin with. All she was required to do was memorize the target's AIM field, tell the other members of the group where said target was, and that was all. That wasn't all she was capable of doing, but that was all that was usually required of her and all she usually did was play a part in the demise of many people in this line of work.

Did that make her a killer for merely doing her part in ending lives? Was she a murderer even if her hands were clean of blood?

It could be argued either way honestly; with some believing that it did and others believing otherwise. A good comparison in this equation is a sniper and his spotter; both are equally guilty at playing a part in ending a person's life but the sniper was still the one who performed the actual deed itself. Did that mean the spotter was innocent? Of course not, but he wasn't the one aiming down the scope of a rifle.

But, by still using that comparison, if one was to give that spotter a gun of any sort would he willingly take another person's life? It is here that the similarities in this comparison cease since a spotter would most likely be capable of performing that action whereas Rikou herself could not. Theoretically, she was able to, she could do it if she absolutely had to, but she would not do so unless her hand was forced and even then she would be hesitant. Perhaps she did not wish to add more to her conscious, or perhaps actually performing the action herself with her own hands was a much harder thing to do than it was to simply have someone else do it for her. Whatever the case may be, the fact remained that Takitsubo, unless given no other alternative, could not bring herself to end the life of another person on her own.

This explained why Chouka, the muscle of ORDER, was still alive and breathing at this very moment in time. Given, Rikou had given thought to the idea of killing the girl due to her helpless state of being. There would have been no effort in doing it, more than enough justification for her to do it, and she was technically obligated to do it since the girl was ITEM's target. The gun was still there for her to use, but Takitsubo didn't touch it, not even approached it despite her musings. Again, she very easily could perform the act, but she was not willing to do so given the fact that she had no real reason to kill someone who was not a threat to her at the moment. Though she could be a threat later, but once this job was over the girl would be either end up killed by someone else or be subjected to a much harsher life with all the events that had taken place today.

For this reason, after several moments long after Kamijou's departure, Rikou simply chose to ignore the track-suit wearing girl as she tried to move Frenda's unconscious form to a more secure location until the ambulance arrived. Let it be known, however, that the task itself was not an easy one; but she was making progress at the very least. Or she had been prior to receiving the call from Mugino not too long ago informing her that her spiky haired friend was on his way with a 'package' for her. That had been all Mugino had said, along with telling her to stay where she was so Kamijou could find her. With that simple message, Takitsubo was forced to abide by it given how critical it seemed the situation was.

If Mugino was telling her to use _that_ then they really did need to get this done quickly before the targets fled the scene if they hadn't already. Sure they could hunt them down outside the building, but taking care of here and now to avoid future headaches seemed reasonable enough for her. That or Mugino had just lost her patience and simply wanted to be done with the job so they could all go home; a thought that Rikou was admittedly leaning more towards at this point.

So, after waiting patiently for nearly five minutes after receiving the call, it was no surprise that Rikou perked up a bit when the sound of footsteps resonated from around the corner from where she was currently located. Upon hearing this, the girl steadily rose to her feet as the footfalls drew closer. She may have taken only a few steps herself before the approaching individual finally came into visiual range; and when that occurred all movement on her part ceased.

For it was not Kamijou whom had appeared around the corner; but a different teen that happened to be male and just happened to be someone she had also met quite recently.

A member of ORDER and a target of ITEM: the odd one known as Kurou.

Said teen, upon stepping around the corner, did not miss the girl who stood between him and the two unconscious females lying behind her. He may have paid the sole individual conscious, aside from himself, a total of ten seconds worth of his time before moving on towards the two comatose girls one the ground. One of which being his own comrade, whom had an assortment of crudely made tourniquets and bandages covering certain areas on her body; most of which being completely soaked or severely stained with blood. But, even at the sight of his broken and unmoving comrade, Kurou's expression maintained its neutrality as his eyes took in the rest of the situation before finally falling back onto Rikou once more.

"You know, I didn't think I would run into you of all people; given who you are." The tone that was used here perfectly mirrored the expression which he was currently wearing; lethargic and with no real interest. "But I guess today is just full of surprises."

Calmly, the teen made his advancement towards the solitary girl conscious in the corridor as if taking a stroll in the park. Not once did he remove his gaze from her person, and with each step he took towards her, Takitsubo instinctively took a step back. It wasn't until her heel connected into the lifeless body still laying on the floor with them that she realized what she was doing. Upon coming to her senses, she shot a glance down at her blonde friend who lay between herself and Kurou; something that wasn't missed by the teen in question though he gave no indication that showed it. It was when her eyes finally landed back onto the pistol that was also near Frenda's body that Kurou's actions movements ceased, though not for the same reasons one would expect.

"You're more than welcome to try, you know." These simple words did nothing but thicken the tension that was accumulating around them as he stood there gazing back at her as if daring her to do what he was implying. "But every action has a reaction, Takitsubo Rikou; you move towards the gun and I will send you to the wall faster than you can blink."

It was not a bluff, Takitsubo knew this the moment he made the suggestion to her and his demonstration earlier against Mugino only strengthened that belief that he could do it. In her current state, she knew she wouldn't win even with a gun, she knew she didn't stand much of a chance against this teen. Had circumstances been different, however, it was possible she could have stood a far greater chance of at least ensuring Frenda's safety and possibly eliminate the target herself. But she wasn't a fighter, ITEM knew it, she knew it, and unfortunately enough Kurou knew it as well.

"You stay you risk the chance of me killing you, but if you run the chances are that I'll kill the blond girl over here in your stead." Now he was mocking her for her state of helplessness. As disappointing as it was, as much as she did not wish for it, she knew she would need to do something if it meant keeping Frenda out of harm's way. But she could do very little in her current state, despite her status as a Level 4 Esper, she could only do so much at this current point in time. "The choice is yours, you know."

No movement was made on his person, or at least nothing glaringly obvious. A simple tap of his foot on the ground and sudden, and loud, popping noise followed; the small scale shockwave caused by this action sending the gun she had been eyeing to come sliding along the floor caused by the force which was applied; the object in question coming to a stop a few inches in front of her feet. Rikou could not avert her gaze from the weapon even if she tried as this action was performed, and it wasn't until it stopped that she returned her attention back on the teen who continued to simply stand there; waiting for her to make her decision. It was cruel in its own way, for no matter which choice she made the results would still likely lead to both herself and Frenda being killed.

"I'll give you ten seconds to decide; either choice you make will end the same way though, just so you know."

"Ten, nine, eight-"

Once again, Rikou's eyes turned back towards the pistol the pistol which lay at her feet. How effective would a gun be in this situation; would it really matter if she were to reach for it or not? She knew the answer to this question, and for the life of her she wished she could say that the use of a gun would have made a difference in this situation. She wished that was the case, wished that the metallic object could alter the scales in her favor, but the fact remained that she knew better than to believe that.

"-seven, six-"

Dark brown spheres turned to addressed the motionless form of her comrade not even a few feet away from his or her person. Takitsubo may have done things she wasn't particularly proud of, she may have been an accomplice in the murder of countless people, but that did not make her heartless. It may have been hard to see from the outside looking in, but Rikou actually did care about the girl's that made up ITEM. They were her comrades, her friends and abandoning them was not something she could ever bring herself to do. She would kill a person before she chose to abandon any one of them; and coming from her that had to have meant something.

"-five, fou- hmm?"

Ceasing his countdown, Kurou's gaze suddenly averted itself away from the solitary girl standing to peer over his shoulder towards the corner which he had rounded moments ago. This action made Takitsubo herself to idly wonder what had caused the teen's attention to waver away from her before dismissing the thought entirely. Having gained an opening which she could exploit, the girl's gaze shot back down to the gun at her feet as she finally made her decision. Quickly, the girl in question hunched down and scooped up the weapon and raised it up towards the teen standing in front of her; both hands holding the grip of the gun in question to keep it steady. She would be the first to admit she wasn't particularly good at using firearms, though that wasn't too much of a surprise really.

But Kurou really hadn't been bluffing when he had made his claim earlier before; and it was proven just when Rikou raised the weapon up at him upon retrieving it. Having seen her actions at the edge of his vision, the teen simply stomped his foot onto the ground as the familiar hum of vibrations resonated through the corridor. The intense force that burst through the corridor following this action not only knocked Rikou off her feet, but everything else in the area as well. Nothing was spared from the tremendous force that erupted through the hallway, not her, not Frenda, not even the teen's comrade was safe from him.

Frenda and Chouka had been fortunate enough to have still been laying on the ground when this occurred; unlike Rikou who had been standing. Unlike her, while they had been moved by the spontaneous force, they had been sent tumbling against the ground rather than sent flying by it. Rikou, however, was not fortunate enough and was struck dead on by it and had landed in a heap about six yards away from where the attack had originated from.

She wasn't hurt but so bad from the landing thankfully, but that didn't necessarily mean she was uninjured from it either. The trickle of blood slowly dribbling down her forehead from the gash just above her hairline; courtesy of the gun being flung back at her when his attack hit her. The cut, however, wasn't really the worst of her injuries; for a terrible sensation pulsed through her leg when she tried to move her left foot; most likely as a result of her harsh landing on the dense flooring.

Oddly enough, though, Kurou's gaze did not waver away from the location he was focused on. It was understandable really, since the thing that had caught his attention soon rushed out passed the corner and into his line of vision. The object of his attention had not been what he was expecting to find; and what he found was a teen much like himself with spiky black hair in a panting mess. He must have upped his pace when he heard the sound, because it took the lad a few moments to slow down to a stop upon coming face to face with another individual not too far in front of him.

Kurou himself, though it didn't appear on his features, was curious as to who precisely this new arrival was since he couldn't really see anything that remotely made the boy a threat to him. No armaments that he could see, no earpiece, no body armor, nothing. He just liked like someone you would see every day out in the streets rather than in a building filled with killers and professionals.

Truly this was a very confusing and equally awkward turn of events; especially since he had absolutely no idea who this teenager was or his purpose here.

"This is weird, you know?" Commented Kurou bluntly, adjusting his hold on the laptop under his arm while turning himself around to fully face the unknown factor standing across from him. "I didn't think there were still civilians in this building; but you don't strike me as someone who works here."

Whatever was being said to him, however, must not have held any relevance to the new arrival. If anything, his attention was being drawn towards the area behind him, rather than on him. Specifically speaking, the teen was focused on the very person whom he had just attacked; which caused the Esper himself to spare a glance backwards himself before turning to address the teen once again. She had landed farther away than he cared to give her, but the distance between them wasn't but so substantial; so he wasn't worried about her trying to crawl away from him. She wouldn't get far anyways, so he could afford to redirect the new arrival elsewhere in the meantime; or just kill him if he tried to be persistent.

"So here are your options: you can either leave or you can die." Continued Kurou with a sigh, the manner in which he presented the teen's 'options' being so casual it was unnerving. "Either option suits me just fine."

The reaction to that statement should have been predictable, or at least in his mind it should have. Panic should have been the dominant reaction made by a completely unrelated bystander; self-preservation taking priority and all that jazz. But when Kurou's caramel brown sphere's locked with twin pools of deep blue, there was no clear evidence of panic in them like he had expected. Terror wasn't present in those eyes, anger was present but it he was sure but it wasn't the thing that immediately caught his attention. He himself really couldn't describe what was looking at, and even if he could it more than likely would have been inaccurate anyways.

One thing that he could say, was that this teen was not at all what he appeared to be.

"That noise, you did that right?" Questioned the teen, his fist clinching tightly as he took a single step forward; actions that serving as a forewarning to the action that was soon to come if the answer he received was not satisfactory. "Did you hurt them, all of them, just now?"

There was a pause here, in which Kurou once again spared the area behind him a fleeting glance before returning his attention back towards the boy as he advanced a few more paces; slowly but surely closing the distance between the two of them.

"And if I did?"

A second after this statement was made, Kurou's foot once again fiercely slammed onto the marble floor as a familiar hum filled corridor in which the two teen's stood. As before, a powerful force swept forward like a hurricane, uplifting anything that was not secured to the floor as it sped towards the approaching teen. Given the distance between the two of them being less than a six feet; the force should have made impact with him within seconds. By all accounts, the unknown party should have been flung back to the far back wall with the amount of pure force that was being applied.

But that was not how fate dictated these events would take place; fate had an alternate scenario that it wished to play out instead.

What played out was something which Kurou believed to be unheard of, unthinkable, and completely unexpected. It wasn't so much what had happened as opposed to what the teen had done that startled him so much; along with the sole onlooker who witnessed it all the same. All the teen had done was raise his arm, his palm exposed and his fingers spread; and just like that the tremendous power of Kurou's shockwave suddenly died as the sound of something akin to glass breaking overcame the sound caused by his own ability. That simple action performed, the single limb being raised, was all it took to stop all that force in an instant. For the second time that day, Kurou's expression shifted into a different shape; one that clearly displayed his current state of bewilderment.

Throughout it all, the teen known as Kamijou Touma did not once avert his gaze away from the teen standing across from him.

Clinching that same hand into a tight fist, Kamijou finally provided the answer to Kurou's very simple question with one of equal simplicity.

"Then I'm going to beat the crap out of you."

* * *

The pinnacle of the arc is finally here!

Funny how I say that at the end of the chapter. (heh)

I'ma be honest here, I feel a bit 'meh' about this chapter; probably because it took so long to bring out. Though I can't say that the feeling with remain for the next chapter, I'm really looking forward to this arc. finally being over; just like the rest of you are most likely. I'm sorry this took so long for us to get here, but I plan to do a lot in this story. Not all my arcs will be this long, but I can't promise that all of them will be too short either. Just felt you guys should know that.

Anyways, a few things real quick before I go! I'll say I myself am not liking how the Kinuhata vs. Sakurai fight went, so complaints towards that are welcome and I'll take them all in stride if there are any. Frankly speaking, I didn't want to drag their conflict out anymore and felt that ending it now was best; considering next chapter's contents. In regards to Touma's 'butting in' with the situation, I kinda feel 'meh' about that as well; so I'll take some feedback from that if any disapprove of it. On the grounds of Touma's last scene, if there are those skeptical about how he performed what he did, then just re-watch Railgun and gravitation bomber episode and politely stuff it.

Oh, and lastly, the cliffhangers are there for a reason; otherwise I wouldn't ever stop writing chapters...so kindly bare with them; cause there will always be cliff-hangers. If there wasn't, you wouldn't be so hyped for the next chapter now would you?

As usual, if there are any inquiries, thoughts, or concerns that arise in your mind, feel free to address them to me and I'll do what I can to answer them. Otherwise, I hope you enjoyed my little piece of work.

Goodbye for now.


	17. Resonating Sounds of Broken Illusions

Greetings to all!

Okay, I'ma be straight here, this was hard to do. Seriously, if you don't enjoy this chapter, then I'm gonna choke someone. Kidding aside, this kinda fight was actually hard for me since it's different from my usual bout with the other, more 'abnormal', characters of this franchise. Still, I hope this turned out well; so enjoy the full fight between Touma and Kurou in the climax of the ORDER arc. in A Certain World of Darkness!

* * *

If there was a point in time during the course of this event that stood out the most; Kurou would be inclined to believe this to be it. Amidst the chaos that erupted at the Seiren Communication's Facility, many occurrences had taken place which should have held some form of significance. The resistance ORDER had faced, the death or incapacitation of his comrades, even going toe-to-toe with a Level 5 Esper; all of these things should have been noteworthy and been more noteworthy than he actually viewed them as. That just merely showed just what he was anticipating, what he and the rest of ORDER had been prepared to face, once the operation had begun.

Nothing, however, could have prepared him for what he had just witnessed and he would admit to that if he had been asked.

For here in front of him was a teen, no older than himself, who had done _something_ to stop his attack; doing so with the use of only his hand. It wasn't like he had just stopped it dead in its tracks; such a depiction of it did not do the action justice. It was more like, whatever it was that had occurred, didn't just stop it; the teen had completely made his shockwave vanish like it was never there. What could have caused this phenomenon to occur? What could have possibly been done in such a short span of time to have caused his attack to be nullified within an instant?

There was a possibility that the teen had canceled out the force with an equal or greater one in that instant. Such a thing was far from impossible given the verity of different espers that occupy Academy City. But, Kurou could not confirm that this was actually the case, nor could he deny the possibility that the teen's ability was something equivalent or greater than his own.

What the teen's power was, though, he could not determine just through a single display that was presented to him. In addition to this, he could not accurately make an assessment of what the teen's power was like he usually could based on knowledge from previous encounters. Kurou knew of many people in the underworld of Academy City, more than he cared to if he were to be honest, so he at least some knowledge based on what they could to do some degree. But this boy, this teen who stood against him, was an unknown oddity that he had knew nothing about and no obvious means of making an accurate assessment. By admitting that, along with witnessing what had occurred firsthand at a close proximity, a minuscule seed of doubt was planted within his mind that had not surfaced once during this entire operation.

And it actually succeeded it doing something else as well; it influenced another emotion to surface in his heart.

That emotion being, simply put, annoyance.

"Well this is going to be bother." Snapped the teen in question; his gaze shifting briefly towards the laptop under his arm. "But, you know, I suppose one arm will have to suffice for now."

Kamijou, having heard this, didn't bother wasting any more time with the pleasantries of idol conversation and took those words as his cue to move. Since the distance between the two was relatively short as it was, it the fist step he had made towards the teen effectively closed whatever gap was between them whilst simultaneously pulling back his right fist for his attack. By the time his foot had touched down, the strong right hook was already in motion towards the Kurou's face. While Kamijou was by no means a combat expert or taught a more refined method of fighting; he was a very capable fighter and had proven it time and again that he could handle himself against most of the students in this city.

Kurou, however, was not among the majority of which occupied the capital of science; something that was soon displayed for the opposing teen attacking him.

Since his left arm was free to move as it pleased, Kurou quickly moved to intercept the attack mid-travel by slamming the side of his forearm into the teen's wrist. This action not only stopped the attack from making contact, but also ceased the advancement of the attack entirely. Well within his guard, Kurou used this opportunity to drive his knee sharply into the boy's ribcage; or at least that had been his intended target had the spiky-haired youth had not acted the way he had.

After his initial attack had been blocked, Kamijou had already begun moving accordingly to follow up this original attack with a left straight to the brunette's right cheek, specifically aiming for the jaw-line. As a result of rotating his body to provide his weaker arm more force with momentum, the end result caused Kurou's knee to connect with his abdomen instead; thus leading both young men to be struck by the other's attack; though Kurou's attack had been the first to connect with Touma's following shortly after.

That connection gave two different reactions from both boy's in question; leaving Touma into a bit of a coughing fit and Kurou stumble a bit backwards a step. Between the two of them, however, Kurou was significantly less dazed than Touma was. That being said, with a simple adjustment of footing, Kurou re-entered the fray whilst his left fist shot out to deliver an uppercut to Touma's chin; his fist emitting a low hum as his ability began taking effect. Touma, however, wasn't so easily caught off by the attack and with oddly accurate timing used his right hand to slap away the attack mid-way, altering the fist's course to sweep passed his head by a good few inches.

Unbeknownst to Touma, Kurou's attention wasn't drawn to the fact that his attack was redirected; but rather the sudden sound of broken glass filling his ears again and the lack of vibrations around his fist. Once again, that phenomenon of his power suddenly disappearing without any explanation as to why had occurred in less than three minutes since Touma intervened.

Just as before, Kurou mentally questioned precisely what sort of power this boy had that could abruptly overpower his own so easily and quickly. He didn't, however, receive much time to muse these thoughts any further before Touma's left fist came racing towards his face in the form of a wild haymaker; forcing the brunette to lean himself back to avoid being struck in the face.

That mattered little, however, since the spiky haired youth was still able to follow up this attack with his right hand, plowing it directly into the left side of Kurou's ribcage. The force which was applied to this actually succeeded in erecting a grunt of pain to escape the brunette's lips as he felt at least one of his ribs wane due to the force, though it did not stop him from lashing his own fist out to the opposing boy's right cheek, the familiar hum originating the area in question. His attack wasn't met with any resistance this time around as it struck its intended target cleanly, causing not only in faint cracking sound to be heard but also staggering the teen as well.

It was not to anyone's surprise that Kamijou truly felt the weight of the brunette's most recent attack; having raised his hand to his jawline to note the surging pain shooting through the area regardless if he touched it or not. That attack was not like most of which he had been subjected to in the past, meaning that it wasn't a blow that belonged to someone of superior strength. Rather, it was like he was being punched consecutively within an instant by someone of average size, weight, and body composition.

He knew better than most that it didn't matter how strong a person was physically; for if they could not hit their target then the strength they possessed was meaningless. But this guy he was facing, the teen who had hit him twice now, did not need strength if he was dishing out punches that could potentially knock him out with one good clean hit to the face.

Mentally, Kamijou made a note to avoid taking any blows to his head at any cost; less he end up unconscious like the two girl's in the corridor.

Touma was abruptly pushed out of his thoughts by the sight of Kurou's foot stomping onto the marble floor once again; arousing a very loud clap to fill the corridor. Instinctively, Touma raised his right hand in front of himself, the action successfully causing the force and sound emitted by the shockwave die off the moment it met his hand. Though, unlike before, Kurou didn't just stand around and wait for Kamijou to regain his composer. Having used the noise generated by the first shockwave to cover up his actions, Kurou created a second one of a smaller scale to propel him forward, thus allowing him to close the distance between the two of them just after his original attack was overpowered.

Using the momentum gained from his propulsion forward, it was almost expected that the rising fist being aimed at the spiky haired teen's abdomen would make contact. But, much to Kurou's gradual realization, this boy he was fighting against was not as amateurish nor as predictable as he suspected. As he made his approach, Kamijou had already begun to move his body in the best manner possible to both avoid being struck, while simultaneously provide him the best position possible to exploit the use of his dominant arm. Thus by the time Kurou made his attack, Touma had already maneuvered his body to the boy's right; leaving Kurou completely exposed for attack.

And just as anyone else, Kamijou did not hesitate once he was provided the opening he needed; thus driving his fist directly into the exposed right side of Kurou's face. With no means of avoiding or blocking, Kurou could only watch and grit his teeth as the boy's knuckles made contact with his right cheekbone and dangerously close to his right eye. The blow itself wasn't that extensive, but combined with the forward momentum Kurou had used to propel himself, and the results of that particular strike easily possessed enough force to send him to the ground.

It was because of this particular strike which resulted in his hold on the laptop to loosen and fall to the floor with him; most likely breaking several key components inside it due to its harsh landing. As for Touma himself, he wasn't obligated to allow the brunette to recover himself; intent on carrying out his claim to beat the crap out of the brunette.

That being said, Kamijou had quickly moved over towards the boy's fallen form and quickly gripped the scuff of Kurou's ruined green shirt and pulled him flat on his back. Shortly after this action, Touma's bare knuckles made contact with the boy's jaw, forcing the boy's head to jerk to the side before being jerked back up to face another hit to the face. This action repeated itself consecutively, though Touma really wasn't keeping count of how many times he had punched the lad he had a hold of. He was able to note the blood dribbling out from Kurou's semi-parted lips with a few fragments of teeth adding into the small pool of blood that was accumulating on the floor.

"I've seen your type before." Stated Touma with a grunt as he gave one last punch before putting an end to his assault, releasing his hold on the boy and returning back to standing at his full height. Oddly, opponent seemed rather quiet, his eyes glazed over as he lay there vacantly staring out into space. "Esper's that think they're above everyone else just because of their ability. They all think that they're invincible until they can't use them anymore, then they turn into cowards who are just talk. I don't know who you are, or why you're doing all this, but it's pretty clear to me that you're no different from them."

If Touma was expecting some sort of response from the teen below, he did not receive it thus he took to stepping away from the lad in question whilst rubbing his still aching jaw and ignoring his sting coming from his knuckles. Given, he wasn't satisfied with the end result of this; for how could anyone feel any satisfaction from pummeling a person who was doing nothing to defend themselves? It wasn't like the guy was defenseless from the beginning, nor was it like the guy was unable to retaliate, but that last moment just now left a less than pleasant taste in his mouth.

Maybe it was because he was typically against violence, or perhaps he felt that it was strange for someone who caused an uproar of this scale to be beaten down so easily. Either way, he knew that there were no alternate methods of resolving this, as talking the teen down in a civil manner was obviously not going to produce any positive results.

On a personal level though, the teen had already been added to his shit-list the moment he admitted to hurting not just Takitsubo prior to his arrival, but Frenda and his own unconscious comrade as well. That was all the ammunition and incentive he needed to kick the boy's ass; nothing more or less than that was necessary.

He still could have done without that last hit to the jaw though. Honestly, had he taken another hit similar to that he'd probably be flat on his ass right about now; and that wasn't even a knockout punch either.

Having not received a response or noted any reaction from the lad, it was rightfully assumed that the teen wasn't about to be getting up anytime soon. Having that thought in mind, he readdress the area around him, his eyes briefly searching until his gaze landed back onto the Takitsubo's form. With worry written clearly on his face, he began to move towards the girl's general location, his hand digging into his pocket to deliver the object which Mugino had given him, along with her message. His approach, however, ceased when a familiar hum began to reverberate off the walls; a hum that he had come to familiarize himself with over the past few moments.

"You know, I may have underestimated you a bit too much." That same tone, the same lackluster and disinterested tone that practically oozed calmness, was quick to cause the hairs on the back of Touma's neck to stand up on edge. The fact that it seemingly originated from directly behind his person only heightened how chilling hearing it was up close. "But, you know, I think that you'll soon find out that I'm pretty different from the common rabble you often find in this city."

Having heard this, Touma's body hastily whirled around with his fist raised and ready to be swung at a moment's notice. Such an action was not necessary, however, as Kurou was still in the process of returning to his feet. Unnerving as him projecting his voice, the real thing which erected chills was the look of absolutely calm in the teen's eyes. Despite the blood dribbling down his chin, despite the bruises beginning to form on his face, Kurou looked entirely unfazed by anything going on around him.

Even his injuries didn't seem to matter much to him, as he calmly stood without a single misplaced movement or action. Given, it was possible that he was simply refusing to let it show that he was actually in pain. That though never seemed to cross his mind though, and it was justified considering what he was looking at. It was his eyes which really caught Touma's attention and erected a certain level of concern; which was understandable given he had seen them before in someone less subdued and fiercer than the boy in question. That wasn't to say they were any less unnerving to gaze into, but rather they were more controlled than the more primal gaze that was held within those belonging to Mugino Shizuri.

Touma himself couldn't really say what he saw in those eyes; but one thing was very clear to him at this point.

Kurou still maintained the belief that he was in completely control of the situation.

Coupled with his demeanor and tone, Touma felt that the teen had a justified reason to hold a gaze like that. If that was the case, then there were more things to come that he would not particularly enjoy.

"That being said, let's begin anew," Began the boy, spitting out a glob of blood and teeth fragments from his mouth, sparing the now broken laptop a brief glance in the process. "You know, with no more handicaps and no pulled punches…"

With this declaration now made and the tap of his foot, the teen's body propelled him forward just enough to provide him a significant jumpstart in his advance towards Touma. Having learned from his mistake before, the propulsion he gained provided him a substantial head-start in his running-speed; breaking him from motionless to closing the distance between them in less than seconds through pure movement speed. Kamijou, having already been prepped for attack to begin with, swung his fist at the approaching teen the moment it registered how close the teen's location was in the short amount of time.

The attack itself was not aimed at any target location; so it was pretty clear it was more of an instinctual action rather than a precisely timed one. Because of this, Touma's fist had merely struck against the boy's shoulder. Shrugging the feeble attack to the side, Kurou didn't waste a breathe in driving his own fist right into Kamijou's abdomen, which was swiftly followed by another punch aimed at the boy's face just after the first attack struck.

Kamijou, having recoiled a bit after the first hit, was barely able to raise his arm up in a weak defense against the incoming fist. His guard did succeed in preventing his head being hit, but like blow before it the damage was not something Kamijou was prepared for. Like before, it felt as though he was being struck several consecutive times in a single instant by those fists, which only intensified the pain which the boy experienced. The blow to his stomach had done its job in hurting him, and now his left forearm felt as though it was going numb along with the feeling of his bones cracking underneath his very skin. It was painful, no doubt, thus he didn't bother suppressing the hiss from leaving his lips as he tried to regain some distance.

But Kurou didn't seem to be as allowing for such a tactic; having slammed his foot onto the ground to create yet another shockwave; this time at nearly point-blank range. Unlike previous attempts, however, Kamijou wasn't able to position his hand in the direction the blast had originated from, that being directly below his person. As such, Touma was struck by that same invisible force that uplifted him off the ground a couple inches before being sent rocketing further down the corridor.

Given, the force wasn't nearly as strong as the previous ones, but his landing was far from graceful; having touched down at an awkward angle and thus falling on his back. He had to bite his lip to avoid crying out once his head slammed into the marble flooring, his hand raising to check on the severity of it and finding only a bump opposed to blood like he had been suspecting.

Thoughts regarding that injury, however, were soon forgotten when he the shadow looming over his form; causing him to shift his attention towards its location. This action was shortly followed by a startled cry from the teen as he rolled to the side to avoid the boy's foot from crashing into his skull; the dense floor crumbling under the pummeling effect of his vibration ability provided his attacks. Still on the ground, Touma quickly grasped at the offending limb with his right hand, causing the low hum originating from the limb to suddenly die off before using his left to try drive his fist into the boy's ankle. He was hoping to at least sprain it for the sake of keeping the opposing teen at bay, but that result was not granted to him. For the boy's other foot was not idle in place, having already been given the order to move and thus connecting with the floored teen's chest.

This attack effectively robbed Touma of most of the strength used for his original attack; thus stopping his assault mid-way as his grip lost its intensity and thus allowing Kurou to be released and move it away. Much like how Touma had acted, Kurou did not allow his opponent the pleasure of recovering as he raised Touma's body up slightly off the ground before lowing himself down to drive his knee into the boy's chest once again; releasing his hold just as the attack connected. The resulting damage dealt along with the harsh slam back onto the floor actually erected a cry of pain to escape from the spiky-haired youth, having been unable to contain it.

Fortunately or unfortunately depending on how one's perspective; Touma wasn't given much time for the injuries to sink in before Kurou's assault persisted. Taking a fist full of his hair, the teen harshly sat the boy up just enough up off the ground and placed his own on the ground where his head was previously laying. This action, however, had a purpose as the same humming noise was soon heard; followed by a loud clap as yet another shockwave was created. Due to the intensity of the blast and its positioning; Kamijou was given no further warning as his body was send rocketing up and into the air; his body steadily approaching the floor at a fast pace after traveling several feet through the air.

Thankfully, Touma had enough presence of mind to act at the last moment to avoid a head-on collision to the ground by tucking in his shoulder, adjusting his body whilst in mid-air, and landing shoulder first on the floor; rolling at least twice before finally losing his momentum. At the very least, the worst amount of damage he had sustained was a bruised shoulder; which was much better than having his head split open had he not acted accordingly.

"I told you I wasn't like the common rabble in this city, you know." Spoke the teen further down the hallway; watching as Touma steadily climbed his way back up to his feet while nursing his now sore left shoulder. While his expression remained calm as ever, a thin sheet of sweat was present on his body and his breathing rate was far faster than when the two first began this scuffle. "I'm not nearly as arrogant as you may believe; in fact I'm actually quite modest in regards to its usage. Nevertheless, I don't blame you for your ignorance; just as you can't blame me for feeling insulted by your assumptions."

As Kurou said these words, something soon became glaringly obvious to Kamijou as he listened to them. That noticeable trait being in the tone which was used as he spoke; one that Touma himself was not familiar with since it was the first time he had heard it. The few instances where Kurou had spoken, his voice had seemingly been detached, indolent, and lacked most common emotions a person subconsciously emitted when they spoke.

But that tone, that voice he had been listening to, was distinctly different from before; it was a males voice no doubt but it just sounded…wrong. There really wasn't any other way for Touma to describe it; it just felt wrong hearing it coming out of Kurou. The best way he could really interpret it was that it sounded familiar to him, but at the same time it felt out of place for it to be heard through his own ears.

"To be fair, even without this ability of mine, I'm still far from what you would perceive as 'normal' by typical standards." Continued the teen, though his expression did not quite match the tone he was currently using at the moment. "But what can you expect from a replacement; you know?"

"What're you talking about?" Despite the ache in his chest and shoulder, Touma was still plenty capable of asking the question as he stared back at the individual across from him; his expression showing the intensity of his confusion. "What does being normal have to do with any of this; and what's this about being a 'replacement'?"

"Don't worry your spiky-little head about it, punk." Retorted the teen with a shrug, his gaze suddenly shifting to the area behind him; specifically to Takitsubo's ever-sluggish retreat. "Neither of you will be alive long enough to absorb the full gravity of those words anyway."

"Stay away from her!" That simple cry of outrage and the slight implication of Kurou's intentions was all it took to rile up the spiky-haired boy and bring him back into the fray of things.

Having already returned to his feet, Kamijou didn't waste a second after realization hit him in rushing the boy across from him. Though, it seemed this was something Kurou had wanted, since he didn't bother taking a single step towards the girl and instead only turned to address him fully. Kamijou hadn't even gotten part-way before the brunette's hands came slapped against one another; filling the enclosed space with a thunderous noise as the invisible force was sent to greet the teen approaching.

Touma, however, didn't even bat an eye at the action, though his ears were indeed ringing due to the sheer volume the noise itself possessed. With the simple raise of his right hand, the shockwave approaching him vanished as the sound of broken glass overwhelmed the thundering clap; all the while Touma continued his advance unhindered and with the full intention of slamming his fist right into Kurou's jaw.

"What I want to know is why you're so concerned about that girl over there." Mused the brunette aloud between pants as he parried the left hook aimed for his jaw; his right fist already moving through the air to strike the boy's exposed ribcage. The attack, however, was batted away by Touma's own right arm sweeping downward with his clinched hand slamming into his wrist, forcing his punch to veer way off to the side and away from the teen in question. With his front exposed, Touma quickly twisted his body as he skid to a stop while simultaneously lashing a left jab at the boy's kidneys. Much like Touma had done Kurou's own hand came to bat away the boy's fist and used the same arm to slam his elbow into Kamijou's sternum. "It will be more beneficial to you health if you just leave her, you know?"

The searing pain that shot up through his chest was almost caused the boy in question to fall to his knees; having momentarily felt the sharp pain after each inhalation he made. Surprisingly though, Kamijou did not cry out from this, though it did cause him to stagger and create an opening for Kurou to exploit. With the minor distance created by Touma, the brunette quickly raised both hands as he prepared to slap both of his hands onto each of Kamijou's ears; the intensity of the vibrations around his hands easily capable of turning the boy's brain in to mush the moment he made contact.

Fortunately for Kamijou, he instinctively lowered his head to avoid this; though the thundering clap that followed still caused the boy's ears to ring from the noise created; the force of the shockwave generated through his action blowing behind him thanks to the maneuver he had performed. Still, that didn't leave much room for relief, as Kurou's knee rose up to meet the boy's exposed chin; the force nearly casing Kamijou to bite the tip of his tongue off had it been between his teeth. The result of this offensive move nearly forced Kamijou on his back, had it not been for the brunette catching him by the scuff of his shirt.

This, however, was not a blessing in any particular way; for the boy soon after pulled Kamijou's body forward just to align the spiky haired boy's face with his incoming fist. Once again, the feeling akin to someone punching him repeatedly in the jaw filled his brain as he was sent straight to the floor; something that was not prevented by Kurou this time around.

"You know, you still didn't answer my question..." Again, Kurou's unnatural sounding voice somehow managed to find its way into his ears; though the ringing had diminished just enough to where he could hear the boy speak. But even now, his body coursing with pain, hearing the boy's voice in his ears gave him a chill that was not comfortable hearing. He still didn't know why something as trivial as his voice was so disturbing to him, but he was not presented with much time to ponder it. "…well, I'm waiting."

"Why do you care so much about it?" Grunted the boy, the intense sensations coming from his jaw and chin making it a challenge in itself to speak; never mind the pain coursing through the rest his body.

"Hmm, you know, that's a good question." Admitted the teen curtly, though his expression wasn't befitting of one who was actually pondering the inquiry with any deeper meaning. "Why show so much concern about another individual's wellbeing when your own should take precedence?"

A loud gasp soon followed this particular question as the tip of Kurou's shoe was driven into Touma's diaphragm; effectively worsening the boy's vision as breathing suddenly became extremely difficult. Like his fists, the same pummeling effect was applied to his foot; making the damage he received significantly more devastating than it otherwise would have been without it. Thankfully, he didn't pass out from this attack; though he was still quite winded and as spit and bits of blood escaped from his mouth as he began to cough.

"Is it our sense of compassion that drives us to subconsciously protect those who cannot do so for themselves? Or does it run deeper than something as fickle as compassion; an emotional level let's say. Do you have an emotional attachment to her, or do you simply view her on a lesser scale? The variables differ from person to person, you know; and I'm curious to see what drove an oddity such as yourself into this chaos."

Kamijou, despite himself, was still not yet able to stand on his own two feet given the severity of his own injuries. His jaw felt like it would snap off at any moment, his chest felt like it was burning, his breathing was shallow, and he felt as though his entire world was spinning in circles around him as blood leaked out from his ears. Even still, despite the pain he was in, Kamijou could at least follow the teen's movements from where it was he laid. A ping of anger entered his heart when he saw Kurou moving towards Takitsubo's general direction; but that feeling suddenly subsided when his feet stopped along the side of his fallen companion; who was still unconscious.

"I don't need a reason to protect someone…" Answered Kamijou between pants, though his voice was quite faint due to his breathless state of being. "-if I'm able to do something to help, I will."

"So you're just a Good Samaritan, huh?" Evidently, it didn't matter how low Touma's voice was; Kurou would still hear him regardless of his voice level. Despite saying this, his gaze did not return towards the boy he was speaking to, instead his focus was drawn to the girl whom he called his teammate as he crouched down on his haunches; gazing at her relatively peaceful slumbering face. "You know, most people don't do a swan dive into this kinda life without some underlining purpose or motive; so I'm inclined to say your reasoning is bullshit."

As he said this, Kurou's hand reached for the girl's still bound hair before giving it a harsh tug up for both himself and Touma to view. To Kamijou, this action was not something he particularly enjoyed witnessing firsthand; especially since she was gravely injured and yet Kurou gave no indication of caring if she was wounded or not.

"Then again, this girl did the same thing when I approached her, so it's not too farfetched I suppose." There was amusement present in his tone here, though once again the humor did not reach his face. "You can rarely find a tool that is as willing as this one was; much less find one that is equally useful. But, you know, it's actually a shame that she wasn't able to live up to my expectations. Useful as she was, she was always expendable, so this result was bound to occur at some point."

For a moment, something in Kamijou's mind clicked with what the boy was implying; something that caused more than just a sliver of anger to swell up in the pit of his stomach as he glared at the boy from where he laid. It was no wonder why he didn't care about the girl's condition; for she wasn't truly valued as a person in the eyes of this boy. From the way he was putting it, he was just using her as nothing more than cannon fodder to assist him in achieving whatever goal he had set into motion.

She wasn't a person to him, but a tool to be used and thrown away like a match that had lost its flame; it was to be used for as long as it was necessary before being discarded and forgotten. In retrospect, this shouldn't have been such a huge revelation to him; for in this city technology was treated in a very similar manner. Even outside of this city, the world tended to gain whatever they could from someone until they was nothing left to gain; then the promptly left them to be forgotten.

That was the cold harsh truth of how some people in this world viewed others; it was wrong and unjust but it was just the way things worked. Even so, Touma didn't have to agree with them nor did he ever want to, and the day he ever did agree with that line of thinking he would cease to be the person his parents raised him to be. Yet here he was, staring at the face of an individual that was treating another human being's life as if it was cheap gum bought at a conveyance store; using it for what it was worth then spitting it out without concern or care. Again, in retrospect, this shouldn't have bothered him as much as it actually did; for history has shown that humanity as a whole has done far worse to its own kind.

The fact of the matter at hand, however, was that it did have a strong impact on Kamijou; one that showed on his face as he slowly and steadily climbed back up to his feet.

"Nobody's life is expendable…" While his voice may not have been as loud as it could or should have been, but the ferocity that it held within did most of the work in displaying the anger in which he felt in that moment. It didn't seem to deter Kurou, for he was still knelt down, still holding the girl's head up by her hair; though Touma's words did succeed in gaining the boy's attention. "A person's life isn't your personal toy to play with until you're bored with it.'

Perhaps there was more in which Kamijou wished to say, perhaps he believed that a sliver of those few words would reach out to the teen to help him realize that his actions were wrong. It was naive of him to believe that way when it was possible that this girl was not the only victim to Kurou's influence. He could hope all he wished, but hope only reached out so far before reality's cold, harsh hand brushed it aside. Touma knew this, knew it better than most, but he still vainly held on to the hope that something, anything, he said would reach the brunette. Sadly, and as expected, hope's reach did not extend out far enough for Touma's wishes to fall through.

"You know, you say that, but this city does the same thing to us for the sake of advancing science and technology." Retorted the teen, his tone almost sounding sober as he released his hold on the girl's hair causing her head to fall harshly back onto the floor; his gaze never leaving Touma's face as he too rose back up to his full height. "The Power Curriculum Program for example; we are all just the by-products of a single, long-term, experiment. Like any experiment, you are bound to have more negative results than positive ones. So what do you think happens to those who are failed subjects, what becomes of them? I'll tell you: they lose their value and are cut back, thrown away, and forgotten in the eyes of those who are seated at the top. Rather than waste their time on the worthless majority, they focus on the minority that have attained success and extort them to proceed with their own objectives."

"So because the city does it means you're allowed to do it too? That's doesn't justify-"

"And why doesn't it, how is it that I cannot do the same when this city dictates our lives as if we're cattle." It may have just been that odd voice he was using, because, again, what was heard did not match the boy's expression at all. Even if his face didn't show it, that odd voice he was using seemed to hold a fair amount of bitterness and spite beneath the calm persona his expression maintained. "You may be satisfied with this place like the countless other sheep led astray, but I am not. I refuse to live out the rest of my life as a replacement for the dead; such an existence is not worth living, you know. If I need to manipulate the lives of others to escape this place, if I need to kill those who stand in the way of attaining my goal, then so be it."

For a brief moment, Touma pondered the meaning behind some of the terms which were used by the teen in front of him. Specifically, the second appearance of the term 'replacement' and why he had said it in such a manner that he had. A replacement for the dead; what in the world was he implying by that? How was it of any relevance to manipulation of his peers and comrades as if they were his own personal playthings? While he himself may have been largely ignorant of what this particular implication meant, a particular bystander not far from them had already come to understand precisely what the boy was implying. She didn't speak, she didn't even twitch, but one look at her eyes would be enough to realize that she knew the answer to Kamijou's unasked inquiry.

Regardless if Touma himself understood Kurou's implications or not; one thing was still painstakingly clear his mind.

"Doll it up all you want, it still doesn't justify you carelessly throwing away another person's life." By this point, Kamijou's breathing had returned to a steady pace; though light jolts of pain still coursed through him every few breathes. But in spite of all the pain he was forcing himself to endure, he still stood tall and still glared back at the boy across from him. "I don't know what your problem is and I don't know what made you think this way was acceptable. But, from where I'm standing, you just sound selfish."

Caramel brown sphere's narrowed a slight margin at the blatant insult produced by the walking oddity he was facing. There was no other change in his expression, no signs of seething anger or irritation; just an almost unnoticeable shift in his eyelids that indicated his internal emotions. If Kamijou had cared in that moment, he may have found the lack of reaction as both disturbing and impressive to a certain degree. Shortly after, Kurou's head descended a bit as a heavy exhale escaped from his lips whilst one of his hands ruffled through his hair.

"You know, talking to you is like talking to the wall; I won't get anywhere." Muttered out the teen before readjusting himself accordingly; preparing to put an end the annoyance in front of him. "I'll give you something to think about then. If you were forced to pretend to be someone you weren't: would you strive not to be the person in the mirror and be who you choose to be or would you continue to pretend to be a reflection of them and forgo your own individuality?"

With his final peace spoken and unwilling to wait for a reply, Kurou's foot slammed into the ground once again as a thundering explosion of noise filled the corridor; though it seemed as if he was not performing this action as a means to create a shockwave like the times before it. Still, the noise did its job in forcing Touma to shield his ears in a feeble attempt to muffle the noise generated. With that, Kurou wasted little to no time in getting close enough to mount his assault; closing the distance between the two of them in only a couple seconds. With the boy's front now expose and with his body positioned at the right angle, the brunette move to send a fierce jab to Touma's throat; the faint hum noticeable as it drew closer.

His method for a swift end was put to a halt as Touma's right hand suddenly found itself around his wrist; stopping the brunette's attack mid-way. Having less strength in left arm thanks to Kurou's previous attacks, Kamijou opted for a different approach in terms of attack. Said attack came in the form of his elbow slamming dead set into Kurou's temple; something that left the said teen reeling as he freed his wrist from Kamijou's grasp whilst still trying to cope with the blow he had received. Staggered as he was from it, he could feel blood slowly dribbling down the side of his head as a result of Kamijou's elbow breaking through the skin. Despite the headache and the bleeding, the attack had not impaired him too heavily and even if it did he would still see this to the end.

He was not, however, given much time to prepare for a new assault; as he had been forced duck down to avoid the punch that had been aimed at the center of his face by Kamijou. Hastily, he took hold of Kamijou's extended arm while simultaneously bringing his free hand up to slam into the boy's elbow; hoping to break it at the joint. As with his first attempted attack, Touma was able to stop this from happening by forcefully bringing his dominant hand down between the boy's bicep and forearm; which proved sufficient enough in negating the vibration of his fist and minimizing the force that was applied to the attack. While it still induced harm on his person; Kamijou was still able to retaliate by adjusting the position of his arm and swiftly performing an uppercut to the brunette's chin.

While the boy's head did recoil backwards from the attack made, it was not enough for him to release his hold on Kamijou's wrist. It actually worked as a support for him, allowing him to readjust his footing, pull himself back into Touma's guard, and grant him the momentum necessary to deliver a powerful elbow to Touma's sternum. Nearly blinding filled the spiky haired youth's body as the vibrations applied in all of Kurou's attacks hit him, literally, dead center. Breathing was already painful enough as it was, but now the intense sensations filling his entire being made every breathe he took feel as though someone was stabbing him. It was almost enough to cause him to lose almost every ounce of strength he had and crumple to the floor.

But things could not end this way, it could not end with Kurou being allowed to do what he wanted to the people around him or to the people present right now. His body may have screamed in protest, but he was not willing to let the brunette have his way, nor was he willing to let the pain create a distraction for the opposing teen to exploit. As Kurou's arm began to retract and his hold on his wrist was removed, Touma took that opportunity to quickly snatch a firm hold of the boy's hand before bringing his right fist into the side of the boy's wrist, precisely hitting at the joint. The loud crunch that followed this, along with Kurou's sharp, yet brief, outburst of pain pretty much confirmed that either the boy's wrist was broken, or dislocated; neither boy knowing exactly which was the case but also aware that the exchange was far from pleasant.

With his hand still firmly being held in his grip, Touma proceeded to follow up his original attack by slamming the bottom of his clinched right hand into the teen's jawbone; jerking the boy's head to the side as yet another crack was heard between the two boys. But even from that, Kurou wasn't going to simply allow Kamijou to do as he pleased; thus made an attempt to raise his foot to create yet another shockwave below them. This action, however, was not to occur since Touma himself saw this action being made and acted accordingly to stop it. This was done by bringing the same fist straight down onto the brunette's knee as it was being raised; abruptly silencing the hum originating from the boy's foot and erecting less noticeable hiss from the green-clad teen.

Touma, however, was far from done with his assault here; not nearly finished with the boy who continued to be a threat to the three immobile girl's behind him. Pulling on the now limp appendage, a sickening pop could be heard coming from the boy's wrist as his bones were forced to move unnaturally. With the teen's body being pulled towards him and the shifting his own upper-body to give his punch more momentum, Touma's fist came rocketing to the left side of the boy's exposed ribcage. Now the brunette was certain that at least one of his ribs was broken; given how painful it was for him to breathe in that moment.

"If I was pretending to be someone else, I would be fine as long as the people they cared about were happy." Was the barely audible retort to the question Kurou had posed not moments ago. Following this remark, Touma released his hold on the boy's hand and placed it on the back of Kurou's neck. The purpose of his was soon clear when Touma's knee was driven into the brunette's solar plexus; earning a choked gasp from the teen in question as his body was already hunched over due to the previous attack on his ribs. "How can I be selfish enough to ruin their image for my own wants? Even if I was forced to do it, I would just find something in their life worth living for."

It seemed that everything that had taken place during the course of this day was finally taking its toll on the brunette. Having fought against a Level 5, overly exerted himself in escaping the said Esper, the injuries he sustained prior to and during the course of this fight. All of it was coming back to him now and the damage which he had received during the course of this fight certainly wasn't helping. But, even with these hindering conditions, Kurou still had something that would give him the advantage he needed to end this and escape before he succumbed to his injuries. It would hurt him as well now that his headphones were gone and his vocal folds were already strained; but he didn't have much left at this point to fall back on.

"I don't know what your circumstances are or what you being a replacement has to do with anything." Having removed his hand from the base of Kurou's neck, he settled with taking the boy by the collar of his shirt as the boy tried to back pedal away from him. At the same moment, Touma's right hand was already being drawn back, his fist clinched so tightly that it was surprising his nails didn't pierce through the skin of his palm. "But if pursuing your goals means spitting on the memory of the person your pretending to be and those who care about him..."

With his head raised, Kurou took in as much air as he possibly could contain in his lungs in preparation for his own method of attack. Having little to no time left, he performed his final action and shrieked at the top of his lungs. For the second time in the same day, something that was equivalent to the sound of a banshee traversed through the vacant corridors throughout the entire section of the building and shattering several of the lights above them until only a few on the distant end of the hallway remained. But, as before, the sound portion of this particular action was only the first portion of the attack; as the shockwave that would follow shortly after was the true form of devastation.

It would have succeeded, had Touma's fist been cocked back still.

It was strange sound really; a mixture with the boy's shriek and the sound of breaking glass as Touma's right fist made contact with the unseen force Kurou's shockwave provided. That said, there was no resistance left to exploit for the teen, nothing to alter Kamijou's fist off course, and not a damn thing to do except to await the inevitable. Fortunately for him, it was nearly instantaneous so he did not need to wait long before feeling Touma's fist slamming into his face for the final time.

"Then I'll destroy that fucked up illusion of yours."

With that, the sole conscious bystander bore witness to their target, the supposed leader of ORDER, fall strait to the floor in an unconscious heap; his body unmoving and his voice now silenced. And in the center of all of the unconscious bodies laid out around him, a battered, beaten, and bruised high school student continued to stand tall. He had done it all using nothing but his bare hands and that strange ability of his; an ability which reminded her as to why Mugino seemed so interested in him.

And like a puppet that had its strings severed, Kamijou Touma soon joined Kurou and the rest on the ground; utterly exhausted and allowing the blissful embrace of unconsciousness take him wherever it so desired.

* * *

And here it is; the climax of this arc. and the fight a lot of people were looking forward too (I think).

Okay, so, bit of explaining needed here. I think we all know at this point that the antagonists in the Index franchise tend to either overestimate themselves or underestimate Touma during his fights. Well, that shows here, and as such Touma does take a good bit of a beating in this chapter. I'd like to think I made it pretty even to a certain degree but I'm not sure of this really so feedback on this would be nice.

Also, I'd like to know if I did a decent job in terms of placement for the dialog; was it too much or was the placement bad? This is something else I'd like to be aware of so that I can improve; so please give me some feedback on this so I'm not left in the dark about something that annoys you , and sorry if the ending is anticlimactic or cliche, but it happens in the anime, manga, and novels a lot so buzz off!

Kidding aside, let's move on.

Now, in regards to the context in the said dialog, there are some pretty major hints to a number of things portraying to this arc's purpose; some of you will guess it the moment you see it, some of it you won't. But I'd like to think I killed two birds with one stone; giving some insight on exactly who Kurou is, what his goal was, and how he was going to do it; along with a few other members of ORDER.

I still hope I made him a decent villain, but that's for you guys to decide.

As usual, if there are any inquiries, thoughts, or concerns that arise in your mind, feel free to address them to me and I'll do what I can to answer them. Otherwise, I hope you enjoyed my little piece of work.

Goodbye for now.


	18. Once the Darkness Settles

Greetings to all!

Been a good while hasn't it? Sorry for the stall, but I got caught up in a things in, as Sakurai once put it, this 3-D world known as life. But, with most of it taken care of, I was able to get this out. Anyway, I hope you enjoy the aftermath of the ORDER arc. in this chapter of A Certain World of Darkness!

* * *

"If you were forced to pretend to be someone you weren't: would you strive not to be the person in the mirror and be who you choose to be? Or would you continue to pretend to be a reflection of them and forgo your own individuality?"

Within the blissfully vast, vacant, wasteland of darkness; these piercing words seemed to echo for miles on end within the confines of the subconscious mind. They originated from everywhere, yet nowhere; from the faintest of whispers to the most deafening of shouts. Each voice, each murmur, each yell, sounded exactly the same as the person who had spoken had used; spoken with a voice that did not rightfully belong to them. Why was it unnerving to hear? Why was it so hard to drown it out and allow peaceful silence to settle? Perhaps they were eager for a response to come; like a child nagging their parents for something in which they want.

But such an inquiry was not something that could be answered with a simplistic response. There was depth to this question; a meaning behind it which could not be seen, heard, smelt, felt, or tasted. All that could be given was a response; a response that required time before an appropriate answer could be provided. One would be inclined to think that the answer was simple; how could it not be? Fortunate as humanity was, free will was the most gracious blessing humanity could have gained; regardless if it is not treasured as much as it could be. But when robbed of it, to have it stripped away from your being, that is when one truly realizes the value of free will.

To strip someone of that and force them to live the life of another person who's views and opinions differ from your own; the answer is rather clear. Understandably, one would be inclined to break away from those chains which bond them and regain their free-will to live for themselves and not the person they are posing to be. Regardless of if it is wrong or if it is right; the fact of the matter is that people would choose the former over the latter.

Yet that was not the answer which was provided; it was not the answer many would willingly choose to give.

The answer was given in a manner that between a murmur and a yell; spoken at a volume that, normally, would have easily gone unheard within a large cluster of people.

"If I was pretending to be someone else, I would be fine as long as the people they cared about were happy. How can I be selfish enough to ruin their image for my own wants? Even if I was forced to do it, I would just find something in their life worth living for."

These simple and evenly spoken words abruptly abolished the shouts, the whispers, and the discomfort that the voices possessed. The tone was the same as before, but felt natural, felt more genuine than the previous words which were being spoken in the same voice. Unlike moments prior, the echo of this answer seemly floated further and further way from its origins; before eventually fading away and leaving nothing but silence in its wake.

Within the silence that it wrought, however, questions acidic in nature began to spring forth. Was that truly the correct answer to retort with? Could one truly find happiness in another person's life when it is not truly their own? Would a person honestly forgo their individuality, their free will, and live out the life of another just for the sake of the people that cared about them? Shouldn't those said people just accept that the person is gone and is not coming back? Why would someone willingly trade something so valuable as free will to be someone they were not? How could someone find worth in another person's life when nothing in which you do is for yourself? How could someone have the audacity to make such a claim when they themselves have yet to be trapped in such a circumstance?

The silence had been present, but as the questions persisted, the once peaceful silence had been overrun with more noise that could not be drowned out. Unlike before, however, these could not all be answered with a single, straightforward, response. For they were too diverse, too many in number, too wide in scope, and too difficult to respond to without arising more questions which would surely replace them. It was a never ending cycle, a consistent barrage of questions, which would slowly chip away at the subconscious mind for the future to come. Virtually, the oppressive inquisitions would continue without end, without pause, and be addressed with the same blatant manner as they were now.

There was nothing that could be done to silence them; thus all that could be done was to wait patiently for the answer to present itself just as it had before. An answer which would address all of these issues presented, and hopefully leave a lasting silence in its wake.

Only time would tell when such a day would come; where these questions which tormented the mind would finally be eradicated and allow blissful silence to follow.

* * *

It was with a pitiful groan which signified the awakening of a certain individual's return from to the conscious world. The lids of his eyes, though heavy to a degree, took their time in parting as the world around him soon came back into focus. Not that there was much to look at to be perfectly honest; for the room he was currently in was covered in the veil of darkness. The only thing which allowed him to actually see was the pale moonlight streaming in through the windows to his left and the larger one at the front. Idly he wondered if it was just moonlight that was streaming in, but that wasn't a thought that weighed heavily on his mind since he was just thankful that he was able to see.

If it hadn't been for the light streaming in, he wouldn't have been able to conclude precisely where he was as fast as he had upon awakening. From what he was able to gather in his semi-groggy state of mind, he was in a currently in a hospital judging by the gown and the room's layout. A factor that he wasn't proud of admitting was that this was not the first time he had been held up in one of these rooms; having been subjected to some real danger in the past thanks to some over enthusiastic espers who have actually succeeded in causing him harm. Those cases weren't nearly as bad as the predicament he had found himself in at the Seiren facility, but they were still bad even if the person in question wasn't actually intending to kill him.

Now that he had gained awareness of his current whereabouts, the next priority in his mind was to determine how much time had passed since he had blacked out. If his memory served him right, it was dusk when he arrived at the Communication's center; so if it was night then that must have meant he had been unconscious for several hours now. The only problem, though, was that he didn't precisely know how many hours he had been out for; something that did not sit well with him. For all he knew, dawn could be arriving in an hour or so; and if that was the case his sleeping schedule was surely going to suffer dearly for it.

One had to give the boy credit for having his own set of priorities; even if it was a little odd. Not many people prioritized their sleeping schedule over determining the severity of their own injures. The fact that the ordeal he went through that brought him here in the first place was far from his mind at the moment only further added how odd this particular boy was attest to most people.

Then again, Kamijou was far from being as normal as he imagined himself to be.

"Clock, clock..." Mumbled Kamijou to himself; still mind still hazy as he turned towards the nightstand hoping to find the devise he was looking for. Maybe it was the painkillers he had running through his system which made his thinking a bit hazy, or maybe was more fatigued than he originally believed. Either way, when he turned his head to the right side of his bed, something immediately caught his attention the moment he laid eyes on it. "Ta-Takitsubo-san?"

Indeed, seated on the two-person couch adjacent from where his bed was Takitsubo Rikou in the same track-suit he had last seen her in prior to passing out. Though, seated probably wasn't the best term to use since her body was slouched as her legs were spread out far underneath the coffee-table in front of her. Judging by the magazine that was on the counter; she had been here for a while now and hadn't moved all that much; the latter of which he wasn't too sure about though. It wasn't until after he had called out to her that he realized she was asleep; indicated by her closed eyelids and steady breathing.

After witnessing this sight, Kamijou couldn't help but feel a bit relieved to know that the girl was alright. Hence the reason a small smile surfaced on his lips as he turned his gaze away from the her and towards the ceiling. While not knowing the time was a bit of an inconvenience to him; he could live without knowing it for the time being. He was just relieved to know that at least one of the people he had been hoping to keep safe had come out of that mess without too much harm done to them.

He was content with that knowledge; he could allow his body to rest and give no care to his worries for the time being. That was the mentality of Kamijou Touma as his eye-lids closed once again and awaited for sleep to claim him.

But sleep's comforting embracement would be forced to wait as the sound of the door to his room opening was heard. That, however, wasn't the only noise that was heard by the boy lying in the hospital bed; for a something else came along with this disturbance that didn't leave a particularly good feeling in the pit of his gut.

"-still at the hospital since Takitsubo wanted to stick around for some damn reason." That familiar voice, one that gave no particular care about the individual(s) slumbering inside, may as well have acted as a sign of impending doom for the spiky-haired youth. It didn't need to be said that Touma was not looking to deal with the said individual now due to his current condition. "How the hell should I know? She's not the most talkative person in the world to begin with and half the time she's zoned out. All I do know is that she's been sitting in that pest's room forever now…"

The loud clacking of her heels hitting the hard floor below them were the only real indication he could use to determine their location; having long sense shut his eyes and regulated his breathing the best he could. Obviously she was speaking to someone over the phone when she entered; though the individual she was speaking to was something he did not know. It could have been that other girl, Kinuhata, or it could have been another friend he had yet to meet yet. Whoever it was, they must have been saying something since all he could hear was the heel of Mugino's boots clacking as she approached.

When the loud clacking her boots ceased; he could only assume she had approached the area Takitsubo was located and was facing her general direction. He didn't risk taking a peek to confirm this however, not wanting to be subjected to the verbal thrashing he would surely get from one of girl should she be aware of his conscious state.

"I doubt it, but then again I don't know what goes through her head sometimes." As Kamijou continued his little act, he couldn't help but wonder exactly what was being said between Mugino and the person on the other end of the line. "Anyway, she's asleep now and I'm done being stuck here. I'll wake her up while you call our benefactor and get us a ride out of here. I'm sick of the fucking smell of this place, so make tell them to hurry the hell up while you're at it."

After a brief moment of silence, Mugino bid farewell to the person on the phone and hung up; thus allowing the silence to return shortly after a frustrated sigh once the call was over. Touma could still hear her moving, the tell-tale clacking of her heels making it very easy for him to determine location but not the direction she was facing. Curious as to know what she was going to do, his caution overshadowed his inquisition; thus he continued to maintain his act of being an unconscious mass of flesh.

For a few minutes, the silence was peaceful, calming, and refreshing to a certain degree; as most instances where the two were together in the same room typically had her either yelling or insulting him. For those few moments, Touma relished in the silence since this possibly the only time he would ever find himself without the girl in question trampling all over his pride. However, when those first few moments finally settled and the silence had yet to be broken, paranoia soon began to settle into Touma's increasingly active mind. What was she doing, why was she so quiet, why wasn't she waking up Takitsubo like she said she was? Questions like these continued to run through his mind at nearly a mile a minute; which was probably not helping him in terms of his acting prowess.

It was hard to blame him for growing concerned and paranoid when you had a ticking time-bomb like Mugino standing near you and not doing anything.

Because of these questions, the paranoia, and general fear of the unknown, Kamijou was completely unprepared for what happened next.

A single finger, a digit on her nearly flawless hands, brushed itself against his right forearm. It wasn't a very heartwarming gesture, nor was it one that was meant to be threatening either. In a way, it was more like she was trying to reach out and touch something she couldn't really describe yet could not deny its existence. He himself couldn't have known what was running through the girl's mind; nor would he want to since the possibilities of him finding something he did not truly desire to witness were relatively high. But with that brief moment of contact, from beneath the sheets that separated their skin, Touma's body reacted instinctively based on the emotions running through his mind.

Basically, Touma flinched.

Understand that, when a person is unconscious, they do not flinch.

Mentally, Kamijou Touma hoped to whatever deity had it out for him that Mugino did not notice the reflex.

"Tsk," Just like that, Kamijou could felt the girl's finger move away from his arm; possibly due to her lack of interest in him at this point. Touma actually had to refrain from letting out a sigh of relief when her hand had pulled away. Perhaps fate was finally cutting him a break after everything that had happened today. "Kaaamiiiiijouuuuu!"

Or maybe not.

A second later, Mugino's balled-up fist slammed itself down onto his hand like a sledgehammer. While he may have had painkillers running through his body at the moment, it either wasn't a heavy dosage or most of its effects had worn off as he was out. Even still, while the pain that shot up through his arm was not nearly as bad is very well could have been without them, it still hurt. Again, not nearly as bad as it could have been, but it was definitely felt and definitely instigated a reaction from the teen struck.

"Gaaaahahoww!" Had there been a nurse outside, she more than likely would have been on scene the moment she heard the loud disturbance. But, as Kamijou's luck would have it, the hallway outside his room was vacant; leaving him at the mercy of a violent Level 5. Now wide awake, sitting up in his bed, and nursing his now throbbing right hand, his attention went straight to the girl who was cruel enough to strike a person who was immobilized. How Takitsubo remained asleep, despite this cry, would become something he would mull over at a later point in time. "What kind of person hits a patient in a hospital that's injured and unconscious?!"

"What kind of person pretends to be unconscious in the first place?" Shot back Mugino, her expression etched with evident signs of annoyance as she stood by his bedside. With that particular expression and the way her arms were folded her beneath her chest, it could only be assumed that being here was a great inconvenience to her. While her body language foretold her irritation, her eyes spoke in a different tone; for there was a hint of amusement hidden within those lightly shaded pools of brown. "Why were you pretending for in the first place? Were you expecting girl to come in and spew some shitty confession to you or something?"

"I was doing it to avoid this kinda thing from happening." Grumbled out Touma irritably, still nursing his hand as he placed his head back onto the pillow; which erected a content sigh to escape from his lips. "Besides, I haven't raised any flags to have a girl come here and confess to me. This Kamijou isn't allowed to have that kinda luck..."

". . .Oi, what the hell do you mean 'raised flags'?"

"It's nothing, nothing at all." Much to Mugino's growing annoyance, Touma seemingly waved off her question with a gesture of his hand, as his head peering over towards the window to his left. Unlike most times she was forced to deal with this boy's attitude, she actually felt it was wise not to pursue the question; less she lose her patience and end up destroying this entire wing of the hospital out of frustration or anger. She didn't care too much about property damage, but she was already dealing with a pissed off manager as it was. The last thing she needed to deal with was that bitch screaming at her any more than she was already. "How's your friend doing?"

Mugino didn't speak or react to Kamijou's question immediately once it was addressed; something which prompted Touma to shift his head back towards her after receiving nothing but silence. What he found was the girl gazing down at him with an indignant look on her face, narrowed eyes and all. Yet, instead of being intimidated by this look as he should have, Kamijou only gazed back at her with a raised eyebrow; clearly unaware of what he had done wrong to warrant such a look. He was genuinely concerned about the wellbeing of her friend, regardless of how she treated him prior at the underground mall. He did, however, shuffle a bit further away from the girl who was glaring holes into his head at the moment.

Was the concept of 'forgive and forget' yet another one of those things which this girl didn't understand? Or was she, perhaps, just irritated at him for brushing off her previous inquiry? While the latter did irritate her, it wasn't the cause of the girl's current ire. In her mind, Kamijou's inquisition seemed more like a means to avoid the subject he himself had unintentionally brought up. There was some merit to her thinking in this manner, but considering that was not Touma's intention, it only meant her assumption was false. She had no idea of knowing this, however, thus the expression currently marring her face. Whether or not he was asking this question to avoid her own, Mugino allowed herself to release a disgruntled sigh as she moved to lean against the wall beside the boy's bed.

"Frenda's fine, for the most part." While Mugino's tone may have seemed calm, telltale signs of irritation were still present in her voice as she spoke. "At the very least, none of her injuries were life-threatening."

"That's good." Responded the boy with a relieved sigh; something that had, unknowingly, earned him an odd sideward gaze from the girl beside him. "I'm glad to hear that."

Personally, she didn't much care how bad the blonde girl's condition was so long as she wasn't dead. Given Academy City's standards for modern technology and medicine, she wouldn't be surprised if someone knocking on death's door could be saved. If anything, a few broken bones and maybe some trauma seemed like it would be more of a chore than a medical emergency. But, in Touma's defense, sometimes it was easy to forget those little facts when common sense dictates that someone is injured and needs treatment. Even still, regardless of how ignorant Kamijou was about the Darkness of this city, he should have at least had the common sense to realize that injuries such as Frenda's were pretty minor in terms of severity.

Then again, this was purely Mugino's opinion; an opinion formulated by consistent exposure to the dark side of this city.

"Oh, I almost forgot," As suddenly as the statement was made, Touma's head turned back towards the girl stationed by the wall. "Can you tell me what time it is?"

Without much of a change in her facial expression, the girl unfolded her arms and spared her phone a glance as the display lit up.

"9:24." Responded the girl, turning off the display shortly after reading off the time to divert her attention back on the boy beside her. "Why're you asking any-"

"So, that means I've been out for…three hours I think." Mused the teen to himself and completely ignoring the girl to his immediate right as he realigned his head to stare back up at the ceiling. Had he still been looking at Mugino at this point, he could have seen just how hard she was working to restrain herself from lashing out. It wasn't hard to understand why this annoyed her so much; as it was rare for someone with enough gall to completely disregard her as Kamijou had just done. But her accumulating irritation soon became overshadowed by bewilderment at the boy's current mentality. Reason being was due to the look of dismay which crossed his face as he continued to muse to himself. "That means I have to pay for an overnight stay at a hospital...and the ambulance cost to get here...not to mention my homework still isn't done...fukou-da."

From her perspective, Touma looked as though he was about to literally sink himself into the mattress due to the sudden realization of everything would need to pay for. This sudden change in behavior actually succeeded in causing the girl to take a step back, her face showing a mixture of disappointment and disbelief at Kamijou's overreaction in regards to the issues he was stuck with. It only further concluded her thoughts that, while interesting, Kamijou Touma was indeed a very strange and equally annoying individual to deal with. Considering everything he had dealt with today, it was surprising something as trivial as homework and bills were on the forefront of his mind.

"You're an idiot." Commented the girl in a tone that was clear and loud enough for the boy to hear; clearly not in the mood to repeat herself a second time. Thought, as strange as he was, she couldn't hide her amusement at the sight of Kamijou looking so deflated. "You do know that, right?"

"So I've been told."

Before any sort of retort could be made, the sudden shifting movement on the couch to Mugino's immediate right instantly caught her attention. Said movement would have normally gone unnoticed had it not been for the fact that the girl's attire not been so vibrant in color; thus any movement that was made would easily be noted even from her peripheral vision. It wasn't until a yawn escaped the sleeping girl's lips that Kamijou realized the said girl was gradually waking up from her little nap. By the time he had turned his head to look, Takitsubo's eyes were already partially opened and still seemingly in a daze. Absentmindedly, Kamijou couldn't help but wonder precisely how long the girl had been asleep for since she came in here. Judging by how tired she looked, it must have been at least two hours at most, an hour and a half at the least.

"Sleep well, Takitsubo-san?"

With her mind still in a hazy state, Rikou could only gaze back almost lifelessly at the spiky-haired boy across from her with half-lidded eyes while another yawn was released. This sort of response only instigated a light chuckle from the boy in question as she gradually became aware of her own surroundings. She immediately took note of Mugino's presence in the room with them, which wasn't a difficult thing to determine since she was standing in-between the bed and the couch where she had fallen asleep at. The second factor that she had come to realize was that Kamijou was awake himself; which was odd considering he had been the one to speak up first.

"Kamijou-san," Murmured the girl in question; still groggy yet coherent enough to be heard by both parties in the room. "You're too loud."

"Heh, at least he's useful for something." Fortunately, Mugino's words went unheard due in part of the pitiful apologizes Kamijou was professing. It may have been their combined noise levels that had awoken her in the first place, but Mugino was not about to admit to it being partially her fault. It had been her intent to wake her up in the first place; but her interaction with the idiot beside her had done its job at distracting her. Regardless, with Rikou now awake, there was no real reason for her to be here anymore. That thought in mind, she pushed herself off the wall and clapped her hands together to effectively gain the attention of the other female present in the room. "Alright, now that you're awake, let's get going."

"You two aren't going to get in trouble with your dorm supervisor are you? I mean, it is getting close to ten o-clock and curfew should be up about now… "

"Tsk, please; I haven't given a shit about a damn curfew or a supervisor in years." Retorted the girl as she brushed away a few locks of her soft-tea colored hair from her shoulder. "Not like either of those things apply to us anyway."

"What do you mean?"

"You have a brain, don't you? You figure it out; you're the one that's stuck here until morning anyway." Apparently, Touma was once again treading on the line of Mugino's patience with his barrage of questions. Now that Rikou was awake and moving, her willingness to answer him had either lowered substantially or was just finally fed up with his inquiries. Whatever the case was, Mugino did not spare him a second glance as she moved towards the exit to the boy's room; her heels clacking against the floor as she walked. "Come on Takitsubo, we still have things to do."

"Wha-"

"Not another fucking word out of you, pest."

Wisely, Kamijou sealed his mouth shut; his previous assumption proving to be dead-on point considering how quickly she silenced him. It didn't stop a sigh from escaping from his person as his head flopped back onto the pillow. Once the girl's left, there would be nothing else left for him to do except sleep; which was going to be a task in itself now that he was wide-awake. Then again, boredom had its own way of lulling someone into a peaceful slumber; so maybe it wouldn't take as long as he original thought.

"Mugino…" The sudden vocal statement made by the usually quiet Rikou did its job in receiving the acknowledgement of both parties in the room; as both Touma and Mugino's attention shifted over to the girl who had yet to move away from the couch. "…can you give me a few minutes?"

Upon hearing the quiet girl's request, Mugino actually turned to fully face the girl as she patiently sat in wait for the Meltdowner's response. Curiosity was evident within those shaded sphere's of brown as she stared back at the girl who was patiently awaiting a response. It didn't take someone of superior intellect to realize there was something she wished to say to the boy present in the room with them. The question that was in the air here was precisely what she had to speak to him about. What was there left to say at this point? The job was finished, the injured were brought here, and all the mess that was created was being taken care of. While did harbor an inkling that Rikou may divulge more than she should to the spiky-haired boy, that thought didn't necessarily bother her all that much as it should have.

So what if the boy knew about the dark side of Academy City? Who cared if he knew that everyone of the girl's he had met with today were killers? It's not like it would stop her from personally observing the subject of her renewed interest; especially after coming to realize that it had been his actions which led to two member's of ORDER being dealt with. Judging by their interactions prior to the girl waking up, it still didn't seem as though he was bothered by anything that had taken place at that facility. Clearly there was still more about this boy than she knew, and if Rikou was trying to speak with him privately then who was she to say no? If nothing else, she could possibly gain more information from Rikou later regarding Kamijou than she would have through talking to him herself.

With her mindset in such a manner, it was unsurprising that she had been quick to mull over the request before promptly giving an answer. Said answer, however, was not as foretelling as a normal verbal approval would have been; for she instead clicked her tongue before readjusting her body to face the door and proceeded to exit from the room. Just as she was about to make her exit, however, she gave one last retort before fully exiting the room.

"You've got five minutes Takitsubo; no more, no less."

The audible click of the door was served as a signal that told both occupants that they were left to their own devises. It was also upon hearing this that Kamijou sudden exhaled loudly for reasons he himself was not sure of. Maybe it was because Mugino suffocated the room with tension or perhaps he was simply relieved to finally have her out of his line of vision. Rude as it may have sounded, Touma could not honestly refrain himself from thinking in this manner due to the level of intensity her presence applied when she was in the same room as him. Then again, maybe it wasn't just him and Rikou was simply used to that air of intimidation that surrounded her? Whatever the case may or may not be, he was relieved to have her gone; for he was now in the company of someone he was actually on decent terms with.

"Thank goodness she's gone." It wasn't until after he spoke these words that he recalled Rikou being her friend. Sheepishly, he turned to address the girl whilst scratching at the side of his head upon realizing his blunder. "A-ahm sorry, that just kinda-"

"It's okay, Kamijou-san, there are a lot of people who feel that way." Though this was meant to be to imply reassurance, Touma couldn't help but note the traces of discouragement in her tone as she said this. All that this did was make him feel more ashamed of himself for his mishap. She herself must have realized how dejected her tone sounded, for Takitsubo soon gave a curt shake of her head as before leveling the boy with the same lifeless stare he had grown accustomed to seeing. "Kamijou-san, there's something you should know about what happened today."

"Ah w-wait a second, before you continue; did anyone else get hurt while I was out?"

"…no, no one else was harmed as far as I know."

"What about the information that was being leaked to the public?"

"The upload was stopped, it didn't get out."

"Was that girl we came across taken by the ambulance?"

"To a different hospital, but yes; her along with the boy you fought before you passed out."

"Haaa, then everything worked out well enough I guess. That's all I really needed to know, Takitsubo-san, thanks for filling me in on that."

Here, Takitsubo could not help but tilt her head slightly out of confusion at the simplistic nature behind Kamijou's thought processes. Did he really not care for the specific details that were not disclosed to him? By all accounts, he had absolutely no purpose entering that particular situation; yet he did anyway. There was no logical reason for him to be there, no reason for him to stand up for her, and no reason for him to end up in a hospital bed when he could have spent his evening at home. Any other person would have at least wanted answers, would have pursued true reason for the events that had taken place at the Seiren Communication's Center. She had seen the doubt in him when she provided him the lies behind the events taking place when they met; so she knew he was curious about their purpose there.

So why was it that he seemed so content with just those simple facts?

Why not pursue the answers she was trying to provide? Did he really prioritize those few things over everything else that transpired or was he merely pretending not to be interested in the matter? If it wasn't the latter of the two, then why would he pointedly deny the opportunity to attain the answers behind questions she knew he held in his mind. Surely he was not so delusional to have overlooked the ploy Rikou had crafted to keep him in the dark.

By Mugino allowing her the time to speak with Touma, it was clear to Rikou that the leader of ITEM didn't care if he discovered the truth of their activities or not. While it ran the risk of pulling him into their world, Rikou truly believed that Touma deserved the right to know at least some of the real facts. Nothing more than the bare facts were necessary, any more than that and she would be speaking too much and increase the chances of dragging him into this world he had no business being a part of. The dark underbelly of Academy City was not a forgiving place for anyone; not even to those who were as deep in the muck as ITEM was. She didn't want to bring this boy into such a life, she had seen it changed others, and knew down to her bones that he would not survive long in it. An even worse possibility stood that, should he survive, he too would change and become something neither he nor she would have desired to become.

Rikou wanted to avoid such a tragedy from occurring, and yet she still felt obligated to tell him some of the truth that was being kept from him. Simple words of graditude would not suffice as payment for his actions today, nor did she have any other true means of thanking him for his efforts. Maybe it was just her guilty conscious for all that she herself had done to him in less than a week. She had given Mugino his name, which made her search for him, which made him a target of the Meltdowner. She still regretted that decision to this very moment in time, and now here he was in a hospital trying to protect the very person who could do nothing but watch as he fought to protect her.

Takitsubo Rikou may have been a lot of things, may had done things did not sit well with her, but she was still a person. Even if the darkness had dimmed the light, there was still plenty of humanity within her to feel gratitude and regret from past events, recent or distant. Even if it was feeble, even if it only caused more problems, she wanted to do the right thing if only once to prove this fact. That wasn't to say she would divulge everything, but she could at least give him some bits of truth to at least sooth her guilt if only a bit.

"Kamijou-san, there is more to this than what you know."

"Takitsubo-san, do you remember what I told you when I was helping that girl?" His interruption was, well, startling considering it was a topic she was ill prepared to answer. Nevertheless, Rikou simply nodded in response; though her eyes were still brimming with curiosity. "Now, what did I say to that guy when he asked why I was protecting you?"

"…if you were able to help someone, you would."

"Exactly, all that matters to me is that everyone I went in there for came out alright." With a bit of effort and emitting a low hiss due to his injuries, Kamijou sat himself up on the bed with his back to the headboard to give his full attention to the girl across from him; a soft smile present on his features despite the obvious pain he was in. "Now that everything was said and done, does it really matter if I know something or not? Though, I still don't understand everything that was going on there, I'm happy with the way things turned out. I mean, n-no offense to Mugino-san or anything, but if she had ran into those two instead of me; then I'm not sure if either of them would have come out in one piece."

Rikou had to bite her lip from commenting on that last little statement Touma had made. She had still been conscious when Mugino appeared on the scene and was just about to do what Touma was implying. The only reason she didn't wasn't due to Rikou pleading her not to; if anything the quiet girl wouldn't have cared if the members of ORDER were effectively killed since Kamijou was not able to do it himself. No, the reason she hadn't done such an action, the only reason she didn't end either of their lives, was due to their manager calling prior to Mugino's arrival with new orders from contractor for the job. Neither Mugino nor the manager knew reason behind this abrupt and unexpected change in objectives; but both had their own speculations in regards to the matter though neither party voiced them.

Regardless, it still didn't sit well with Mugino that the person they were hired to eliminate was now meant to be apprehended instead. Her consistent grumblings about how the contractor couldn't make up their mind was something Rikou was forcibly subjected to for several long minutes as the medical team arrived on the scene. With them, however, were an odd number of researchers who claimed to be taking the two remaining members of ORDER to a different hospital for treatment. Both Rikou and Mugino already knew that it was practically over for those two now that the darkness of the city had regained their hold on them.

It still made her ponder what they could possibly want with the two individuals; but that was a thought meant to be mused at a later time.

"Mugino did bring up a good point when I caught up with her too." Her thoughts were broken as Touma's voice once again filled her ears; returning her focus towards him as he continued with what he had to say. "What happened today was none of my business and I stuck my nose in it like it was; even if I did have good intentions. I think that me being here is my own punishment for getting caught up in someone else's problems. At the same time, though, I don't regret doing it since I was at least able to stop both of those people from hurting or killing someone I was trying to help. I did what I set out to do and this is just the end result that was bound to happen to me for getting caught up in it all."

Despite the task Rikou had set out to fulfill here, in spite of her guilty conscious, the girl could not bring herself to say a single word to the boy across from her. Even when he turned his attention towards the massive window in front of him, she still couldn't find it in herself to speak. Her silence wasn't one that was based off of feeling mesmerized by what was being spoken to her. His words weren't poetic, he wasn't trying to make a point; rather it seemed more like a confession more so than anything else. Touma admitted his wrongs, but did not regret the decision he had made today and was fine with how things unfolded in the end.

Just as he had sounded before, Kamijou Touma was content with the simple fact that everyone involved was being taken care of. The only difference this time was that Takitsubo was not pondering why he sounded this way; for she herself came to her own conclusions.

"I guess, what I'm trying to say is that I don't need or want to know because it's doesn't really matter to me. So long as everyone is alright, then that's more than enough for me. I accomplished what I wanted to; everything else, good or bad, doesn't matter to me."

As much of an oddity he was, Takitsubo could not deny that her interpretation of Kamijou Touma was accurate. From his actions today, it was clear to her that Touma was as Kurou said hours ago; he was purely a good Samaritan. His words only further provided proof of this classification since he had no other intentions aside from merely lending aid to those that were in need of it. Touma may not have known that ORDER's members were to die today by ITEM's hands. The same girl's he was hoping to help were just as rotten as the 'terrorists' he was fighting against; but he helped them anyway. He didn't care for specifics; he didn't care about his own safety or his own life.

All he cared about was helping them through that ordeal and ensuring they came out of it alive.

This was all just based on a simple assumption, an assumption born from witnessing his struggle and eventual victory against the Oscillator. Even if it was a feeble assumption with no definite basis; it was still an assumption she could believe and, by default, accept. She could accept it because that was what she clearly see and feel from his actions and his words. The former may speak louder than the latter, but today Touma had proven that both of those things can and do paint a very vivid picture of a person and how others will come to view them as. With this new presentation, this new image drawn-out to her, Takitsubo Rikou could not help but stare down at her feet; finding the will to speak fading further away as seconds ticked by and her thoughts carried her elsewhere.

It wasn't until after three harsh knocks struck the door that the girl's thoughts were silenced. She wasn't the only one startled either, for Touma also jumped a bit at how abrupt the disturbance was. It didn't take much longer after calming their nerves for both parties to realize it was just Mugino who was outside, possibly to tell Rikou her time was just about up. Needing no further cue than what was presented, Rikou stood from her seat, walking around the coffee-table, and towards the exit. Her intention to leave, however was halted as she approached the boy's bedside; her lips parted slightly only to close the gap shortly after they had parted. Believing that there was something else that was left to be said, Touma head turned to face her directly, but remained silent and patiently waited for whatever else she felt the need to say.

In all honesty though, what could she have left to say to him after hearing everything which he had said? After hearing everything he had spoken of, what was there left for her to say? A simple goodbye did not seem as appropriate as some would think after being exposed to all of that. It didn't seem or feel like the right thing for to say here. While there were many other possible things that could be said to him prior to her departure, nothing she thought of seemed efficient enough. That was why there was such a conflicted look in her eyes as she stared back at the boy's own, unable to formulate the appropriate words to say but desperately searching for something, anything, that would suffice.

"I'll see you around then, Takitsubo-san." Spoke the boy, the disturbance once again breaking through her troubled thoughts as he extended his hand for her to shake. For a few seconds, Rikou stared at the offered limb with confliction still present in her dark brown spheres. But those seconds had been fleeting, and thus she accepted the gesture and even rewarded the boy with the faint sightings of a smile appearing at the corner of her lips.

"Yes, Kamijou-san..." Awkward as it was, she had no other option but to accept these as her parting words to the boy who had insured her safety today. Meager as they may have seemed to her, they were the only words necessary for him to be satisfied with how this particular meeting ended. Regardless of which side of the world they lived in, be it in the darkness or in the light, both could agree that this was an acceptable way to bit the other farewell for the time being.

A parting of ways between two people who could official view the other as their friend was all that was necessary.

* * *

When one lives in a place that is composed of several different methods of surveillance, known or unknown, it can become a very stressful thing to attain personal privacy for one's self. This was mostly prominent when it came to private institutions where were built for the sake of research and development groups. When it came to science, when it came to attaining new cutting edge technology, data, schematics, practically any form of information that was reliable was worth money than most common-folk would believe.

That was the main reason why most of these institutions were heavily fortified with tight security around the clock with each passing day. Researchers who played a part within these institutions often underwent a very thorough background check before they were given permission to enter the building; much less actually take part in whatever project that was taking place.

Though, occasionally, some rats were able to scurry off with classified information, but more often than not they were dealt with one way or another. With each attempt, successful or not, that someone made at becoming rich quickly; the security and the methods to improve it increased. Some called it a flawed system; others viewed it as good method of locating and patching new-found weaknesses. Either way, everyone could wholeheartedly agree that the safety measures for these facilities were constantly evolving; making it more and more difficult for the rodents to steal from them.

That said, the particular research building within District 7 was no different from most others that were stationed around the entire city. There were, of course, differences that made it distinguishable between the others structures around it, but at the same time nothing to make it seem too out of place. Overall, the building itself did not appear conspicuous at all in terms of outward appearances.

The interior however, told a completely different tale if one were to go beyond what was accessible to most of the staff inside.

The major focus here, however, is not with the interior design of the building in question. Rather, it was in an observation room of sorts; a room that was large enough to accommodate at least seven to eight people without leaving everyone cramped next to one another. Whether it was for security purposes or not could not be said, but the large one-way window that was presented on the far end of the room made it clear enough that it wasn't meant to have people sneaking a peek inside. Despite the rooms size, though, only one person was present within it; a woman to be precise.

Her appearance spoke for itself really; as she didn't seem a day over thirty and was garbed in what you would typically find a researcher wearing. That being said, however, there wasn't much to look at considering everything was obscured by the white lab-coat she wore. That left only her face and her long auburn brown hair visible for the eyes to behold when looking at her.

At the moment, however, appearances didn't matter as this very woman was practically juggling between the information on a clip-board in front of her and the phone she holding up to her ear.

"Yes, most of the injuries he sustained were superficial at best. There were some broken bones here and there, but nothing substantial to his health."

As she spoke, her thumb brushed upward against the paper that was presented on it, flipping it over to review the contents that were presented on the page behind it.

"The most severe…I'd say that would be his vocal-folds. It seems like they were put under heavy strain, so I doubt we'll be hearing him speak for the next couple days or so."

Even as she spoke to the person on the phone, her deep green eyes did not waver away from the sheet of paper in front of her. Clearly the woman was accustomed to multitasking, as she was able to follow what the person was saying on the opposite end of the line whilst still analyzing the information presented to her without issue.

"Yes, it seems like the little group he made was almost completely wiped out. The lively one was the only survivor aside from him; but she turned out much worse for wear than he did."

Having reviewed the contents on the page, she flipped to the next one as she moved towards the chair positioned not far from her person; taking a seat shortly after as she continued to examine the next page's contents.

"I'm still looking into that; but once I have some results I'll be sure to fill you in on it."

Pinning the phone to her elbow, her hand moved towards the now warm mug of coffee that was placed on the desk next to her. Upon taking a sip her expression visibly altered into one of displeasure and placed it back down; and not once did her eyes veer away from the clip-board.

"Hmm, I think it would be best to leave him how he was prior to this. Of course, now that we have him back, I think it's to be expected that we give him a reminder that we still have him on a leash. A good tug will do well to remind him that's he's still a dog on a chain. We may have given him some additional slack, but he's still on it and I'll be sure he knows this."

Having read through all the detailed information present at the moment, the woman finally placed the object she was holding onto her lap; raising her fingers up to rub against her now sore eyes.

"No, we already have test results that prove she is an asset that can be used. Getting rid of her might just ruin all we were hoping to extract from him. If this drags on too long and she turns out to be a liability, then we will dispose of her promptly."

Swiveling from side to side in her chair, the woman looked almost bored as she listened to whatever the person was saying; even rolling her eyes upon hearing the latest comment.

"Yes, yes, your assistance was appreciated in getting ITEM's client to comply with our request. Don't worry, you're funding isn't going to waste here; you'll get what you want in time."

In spite of how horrid the taste was, the woman once again reached over toward the mug and took another sip of the liquid inside; her expression still showing displeasure as she did it. Then again, it may have been the person's words that caused the shift in expression; but none would know aside from the woman listening.

"Understood, I'll inform you once we make some progress."

A few moments later, a harsh sigh escaped from the woman as she slid the screen of her phone down; signaling the end of the call and placing the device in her coat pocket. Still holding the mug, the woman continued to swivel back in forth as her head turned towards the ceiling as her eyes glazed over. When it came to this particular career path, stress was bound to get to a person no matter how intellectually superior they were from everyone else. The woman in question was not among those people who easily outclassed everyone around her; though she was still a relatively smart individual. That said most of the projects she had taken part in were still well within her capacity to complete without too much difficult.

But this one, this particular project, was something that was not as easily resolved as one was meant to believe. It was still within her capacity to be in charge of and complete; but that did not imply that it would be easy for her; especially when the subject made things even more difficult. Still, she was confident that they would achieve the desired results well within the time-span they were provided. There was no time to doubt if they would succeed; even if they didn't she had plenty of places she could go back to. There was nothing extensive on the line here; for there was no one in this field who suffered from failure at least once in their career.

"Just a little more time…" Mused the woman to herself, placing the mug back onto the table after finally have enough of the bad tasting liquid. "Just a little more time and we'll see what Kuroudo was hiding inside his legacy."

* * *

Fancy meeting you here.

Okay, info. dumping chapter; I admit. But come on, you should have known this was gonna happen! Really, they never show what happens to Touma whenever he passes out and I'm not about to do that myself. Doing it this way is much easier for me to do especially since it makes getting the information out a lot simpler. So everyone whining about it can politely stuff it.

Now in all seriousness, I myself have come to really notice something that I didn't think about until this chapter was being written. Notice that, from 11th of May chapter from here, how Touma and Rikou's relationship has been primarily focused on? Well, I think that was kinda the driving theme for this whole arc. It's the stepping stone or Touma getting his foot in the door to build his relationship up with not just Rikou, but to the other members of ITEM as well. I'm sure you can see who's bound to be next in terms of relationship building. Bare in mind, this is still a Mugino / Touma fic, but their development goes as time progresses, and there will be plenty of bonding between those two as the story goes on.

As for the snippet above and the final scene; well I things for both. The first was something I did as a spur-of-the-moment kinda thing. After I wrote it, I didn't want to get rid of it; so I kept it. I leave it to you guys to figure out who's subconscious mind its taking place in. As for the ending, call it foreshadowing or just call it closure to what becomes of Chouka and Kurou. Whatever you view it as, ORDER arc. is officially done and over with.

If either of these scenes bother you, I apologize. If you enjoy them, thank you. If you enjoyed the entire chapter despite it's info-dumpish nature; cookies for you.

As usual, if there are any inquiries, thoughts, or concerns that arise in your mind, feel free to address them to me and I'll do what I can to answer them. Otherwise, I hope you enjoyed my little piece of work.

Goodbye for now.


End file.
